Path of Ascension
by tsukasa030
Summary: In the Tower of Salvation after Remiels' defeat Lloyd is seperated from the group. For him destiny has another calling as his connection with Origin becomes painfully clear. Now Lloyd's on a quest to reclaim his lost power and set things right.
1. In the beginning

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia or any of it characters.

**Path of Ascension**

**Chapter 1**

Scene: In the Tower of Salvation just after the fight with Remiel.

"Lord Kratos, have pity on me. Please...lend me your aid.", said Remiel as he struggled to reach the mercenary. Lloyd's group was shock speechless by this declaration.

Kratos glared down at the dying angel and replied, "Have you forgotten, Remiel? I was once of the inferior race...a human. "Does the Ultimate being seek help from that which he dispises the most, he said with a sneer. Remiel died and Kratos was then approached by Lloyd's party.

The first the speak was Lloyd, "Kratos...who are you?" Kratos started to glow and he revealed his angel wings. "...I am of Cruxis, the organization that guides this world. I am one of the Four Seraphim, sent fourth to keep close watch over the chosen.

The thought going through all their heads at this was _"Kratos is an angel, too!"_. Sheena angrily accused Kratos, "You deceived us!"

The Seraphim lifted an amused brow and replied, "Deceived? If the Chosen merges with Martel, she will awaken, and the world will be saved. Is that not what you wanted?"

Raine finally spoke in a sad tone full of regret, "Once her body is taken by the Goddess Martel, Colette will truly die.

"No. She will be reborn as Martel" Kratos stated.

Lloyd could no long take it and challenged Kratos. "...Dammit! You think I'm going to let you do that! Colette is our friend!" Lloyd blindly struck out at Kratos while he felt something growing inside of him, but the Seraphim still dodged his attacks with ease. To Lloyd the angel was just mocking him and probably causing the strange feelings in him as a distraction.

Sheena, Raine, and Genis shook off their stupor and joined into the battle. Sheena opened up with _Pyre Seal _while Raine attacked at the same time with _Photon_. Kratos smirked at both women as he deflected their attacks back at them. Genis, having been around someone as insane as Lloyd, jumped between their attacks and launched a _Grave_ directly at Kratos. The Seraphim disappeared from Genis' point of view when the attack connected throwing stone everywhere. Everyone shielded their eyes from the flying rocks and gathered around ready to resume the battle when their target presented himself.

As the dust cleared Kratos was nowhere to be seen. Everyone instantly went on guard, but for Genis it was too late. Kratos appeared directly behind him striking him in the back of the skull with the butt of his sword. Sheena started to summon Udine while Raine ampted the party's power with _Acuteness_. Lloyd managed to engage Kratos in battle, but the angel was meeting him blade-for-blade with a bored look on his face telling Lloyd he wasn't even trying. Lloyd unleashed an _Omega Tempest_ only managing to scratch Kratos on the hand suprising the angel. Kratos knew the blade never actually touched his skin, but knew he had been hit as the young swordsman had managed to draw blood.

Kratos returned his attention to the party just as Sheen was about to finish summoning Undine Kratos teleported in front of her and punched her hard in the stomach dropping the summoner to the ground in pain. Kratos then turned his attention back to Lloyd who had used this opportunity to try a surprise attack on the angel. He scoffed at the boy's predictability and soon found Raine striking at him with the same intensity as Lloyd.

Finally Kratos had enough toying with the two remaining fighters and slashed Raine's staff in half before unleashing _Judgement_ on his opponents. Raine was barely managing to stay conscious after having taken the blunt of the attack while Lloyd got clipped on the right shoulder and through the back of his left leg missing the bone barely. Raine and Sheena could only watch as Lloyd refused to give in and resumed his fight. Kratos knew the stubborn boy would choose death before giving up, so when the boy jumped towards him Kratos teleported directly under him and attacked Lloyd using _Lightning Blade_.

Lloyd dropped one of his swords and struggled to use the other to keep himself from falling to the ground. He squeezed his eyes shut as he felt another rush of pain throughout his body, but he also felt like his blood was on fire and the thing from before was growing...expanding throughout his body. Before he had too much time to think about this he saw Kratos appear in front of him drawing his sword back to strike. As Kratos moved in Lloyd fell to the ground in pain. He tried to suppress it, but the burning sensations increased.

Kratos was unsure what was happening. Sure he knew he hit the boy hard, but from the Lloyd's body language the source of the pain was his entire body. Nothing done to Lloyd should have caused that kind of damage, at least he thought. (Interesting adding this in because it hints that Kratos wanted to incapacitate and not kill Lloyd, but you did it subtle) Contemplating what to do he almost failed to notice a light appear from above them. He turned to the light as it transformed into a blonde angel with wings much like Kratos' own. "I guess not even you could bring yourself to fight against such an opponent."

Lloyd tried his best to keep his eyes on the angel whom had just spoken, but found it difficult even though the burning had let up to only slightly agonizing. He watched for Kratos' response and was not disappointed. "Lord Yggdrasill." "_Who is this guy and why does Kratos show him such respect?"_ Lloyd thought. He also heard Sheena mumble, "Great, another angel." He was suprised that the summoner like Raine was still conscious . It made him wish Genis was still awake and that everything would just go back to normal.

The new angel glanced at Lloyd amused at how the little human still had a look of defiance in his eyes even though he was beaten. "Are you Lloyd?", he asked catching him off guard.

Feeling the need to piss this guy off he replied with his usual greeting for people like him. "Give me your name, and I'll give you mine!" Lloyd's expectations were disappointed and he himself was angered by the angel, "Ha ha...people need not introduce themselves to mere dogs."

Raine and Sheena shared Lloyd's feelings of disgust as this angel talked down to Lloyd. The burning increased again focusing on his shoulders and around his arms as he shouted, "What did you say!"

Enjoying the boy's reaction he decided to give him his name, "Fine, I shall tell you my name, wretched human. I am Yggdrasill. Leader of Cruxis...and the Desians!", finishing the last part with a smirk.

Digging into any and all reserves of power he had left he lauched himself at Yggdrasill after collecting one of his swords knowing he would have to fight him alone. During the fight he got a strange flash he could only compare to a vision of someone, but all he could make out were strong, cold blue eyes staring back at him. It frightened him a little, but oddly enough he felt comforted by them. He snapped out of his daze and noticed he had somehow managed to not only put up a good fight against Yggdrasill, but push the angel back a little.

Yggdrasill noticed the boy space out and thought it was be a quick end for Lloyd, however the boy put up a good fight like he had centuries of experience such as his own and Kratos. He watched as the brat in front of him came back and had had enough of this. He summoned a sword with a purple aura around it and watched it release a burst of power knocking Lloyd through a pillar. He then turned to Kratos and said, "Kratos, I trust you have no objections?" Kratos did not reply, he just looked away with sadness in showing in his eyes for the first time in over a decade. Turning back to Lloyd Yggdrasill said, "Farwell."

Before Yggrasill could do the deed however a burst of fire flew past the angel missing him. Yggdrasill turned his attention to Botta and his soldiers as Kratos stepped beside him. Botta saw Colette and cursed his luck, "Damn! The Chosen has already become an angel! We have no choice. We're taking all of them back with us alive!"

Seizing this opportunity presented by their distraction Lloyd managed to throw himself into one last strike. _"For Colette"_, he thought. Before he could reach Yggdrasill Kratos moved between them and out of sheer instinct sent his sword flying into Lloyd's heart.

For Raine and Sheena it all appeared to go in slow motion. They could do nothing more than watch the look of pure horror that flashed across Kratos' and Lloyd's faces as Lloyd screamed in pain. Lloyd spit up blood on Kratos' sword before falling back off of it and landing on the ground with a thud. Both girls knew then and there that the glazed over look in Lloyd's eyes, his facial expression, the sounds...all of it would haunt them until their deaths.

The mercenary was caught up in shock and to a lesser extent so was Yggdrasill, suprised at both Kratos' and Lloyd's actions. Botta knew this wouldn't last long so he had his men grab up Lloyd's party. The soldiers had no problem getting the three girls and Genis, but when two of them moved to get Lloyd his body glowed and just disappeared causing both Seraphim to snap out of it. Furious Yggdrasill released three bolts of pure mana at Botta's men while the rest of them teleported away with Colette and the rest of Lloyd's party.

Sensing that Kratos would not speak he did, "...Renegades...as irritating as ever. Still, it is of little consequence. Kratos, Let us leave."

Kratos managed to suppress his emotions using all of his centuries of experience to do so before he answered the other angel. "As...As you wish..." With that Yggdrasill teleported away while Kratos remained for a few moments staring at the blood on himself and the floor, but what bothered him most was looking at his sword. He walked over to one of the windows and threw the disgusting thing out before leaving himself. "Please forgive me, Lloyd."


	2. Lloyd! Dead or alive!

**Chapter 2**

Scene: Hours later at the Renegade base in the Triet Desert.

"Ugh...where am I?" Genis looked around the room to see his sister Raine, the Summoner Sheena, and the now angel Colette.

After having spoken Raine looked up towards her sibling and moved towards him with a sad smile on her face. Genis gets out of the bed and moves to Colette expecting some kind of response from her. Colette does not respond and he hears Sheena try to speak. "...she doesn't respond to anything we say." It's then he notices the lack of his best friend Lloyd.

"Where's Lloyd?" the young half-elf turned his sister hoping he was ok, but realized very quickly that something was very wrong when his sister looked down at her feet. He then looked to the ninja intending to ask her the same question, but she had turned away before he could open his mouth to speak. He did notice a she had a single tear fall down the cheek. The grim reality of what must have happened set in as he started to cry eventually being joined by his sister and Sheena's silent sobs.

After a few minutes of crying Raine managed to regain some composure before trying to change the subject and tilted her brother's face towards her. "Genis, do you remeber this place? We're in the Triet Desert. Remember? This is the base where... Lloyd... was held captive before." She didn't mean to, but she stuttered when she said her late student's name.

The little boy pulled himself together somewhat before answering her. "...The Desian Base?"

At this time Sheena entered the conversation. "These guys aren't Desians."

Seeing the confused look on the younger Sage's face the elder attempted to claify, "Why don't we go over everything we know about the situation as it stands now. First, our current situation. Kratos seems to take orders from other angel that appeared in the Tower of Salvation named Yggdrasill. First...Lloyd... was.. sobs ...and then when we were also about to be... killed in the Tower of Salvation, we were rescued by the organization on this base that resembles the Desians. They call themselves the Renegades."

The young boy took a moment to process this information and couldn't help but notice how Raine refused to say anything about Lloyd. He took that too mean it was still too soon for her to talk about even though he wanted to know exactly what happened. "So these people call themselves Renegades and not Desians? Okay, please go on."

The scholar tried to smile, but failed. "It seems the Renegades oppose the Desians. They probably have a reason for intentionally trying to look like Desians."

He wondered out loud, "We were saved by an organization called Renegades that looks like the Desians. So what about that bastard...Kratos?" he spat with as much venom on his tongue as possible saying that vile name.

"Yggdrasill said some things in the Tower of Salvation...Now this is purely conjecture, but Cruxis, holy beings worshipped by the Church of Martel, and teh Desians may in face be the same organization." the scholar theorized.

Genis was shocked by his sister's theory, "...whoa, wait...what! How could that be possible!"

Before he could go on his guardian again spoke "Little brother, hear me out. If we think of the Desians as a part of Cruxis, or perhaps their pawns, everything makes sense. Remeber one of the Desian Five Grand Cardinals said that their boss was Yggdrasill and Yggdrasill said that he was the leader of Cruxis and the Desians when he appeared before us."

Quickly picking up on where his sister was going with this. "If the Desians and Cruxis are the same, then Kratos? You said he obeyed Yggdrasill's orders. So then he must be...", he questioned.

"...That's right, he's our enemy! He deceived us! He admitted it himself. He's one of Cruxis' Four Seraphim!" the angry Summoner spat. Both noticed her eye start to twitch knowing from experience that the would be assassin only does this when she's severly pissed off.

Raine continued, "Kratos is likely a subordinate of Yggdrasill. He probably joined us to make sure 'The Chosen' didn't stray from the journey to regenerate the world. " Immediately after Raine finished her brother said to himself more than anyone, "...so we were deceived from the very beginning. By Remiel, Cruxis, even Kratos!"

Before anyone could say another word the doors to their room flew open and five Renegade soldiers marched in. "Ah, you're awake. Then please, come with me to the next room. Our leader awaits you.", barked one man.

The four of them cautiously walked to the next room wondering whom they were about to meet and why the Renegades saved them. Upon entering the room they were greeted by a blue-haired man with a cape, "So, you're all finally awake."

The ninja glared at the Renegade's leader causing him to laugh before Genis asked, "Are you the Renegades?"

The man looked at the youngest member of the group and smiled at him. Not a amused or arrogant smile, but a friendly smile. "Correct. We're an underground resistance dedicated to fighting the Desians...or rather, Cruxis."

A voice from behind them spoke and they immediately recognized him as Botta, "Cruxis controls the Church of Martel in the open, and operates the Desians from behind the scenes. The Desians are a subordinate organization within Cruxis." None of them trusted him but didn't dwell on it for too long.

"The Church of Martel is nothing more than an instrument created by Cruxis in order to rule the world. Those who call themselves angels are half-elves, who've evolved by using a special type of Exsphere called Cruxis Crystals. They aren't gods or anything of the sort. Of course, the Church of Martel and the Chosen know nothing about that." the blue-haired man spoke again.

The native of Tethe'alla was suprised by this revelation and couldn't contain herself, "They're half-elves, too?"

Botta nodded, "Yes. Some of the Desians, as well as Cruxis and ourselves, are half-elves."

The Mizuhoean absent mindedly mumble aloud, "...what is Cruxis trying to do? Are they doing all of this just to rule the world?"

The Renegade's leader cast her an annoyed look and snapped, "Do you intend to have us explain everything? How about using your own head a little." The response she gave was turning a fierce glared at him causing two of the soldiers still in the room to step back quickly.

The man cast both soldiers a scolding look before Raine spoke, "Do they wish to revive the Goddess Martel? They send oracles to those of the mana lineage and control their marriages to create Chosens who become the vessel. It seems meaninglessly drawn out and complicated."

Botta looked at the intellectual pleased at how quickly she made the connections. "Well, well. I'm impressed."

Before she could follow Sheena's earlier example the Renegades Leader spoke again, "There is another world beyond Sylvarant that competes for mana."

The youngest present quickly nodded and stated, "Tethe'alla."

Sheena who was still glaring at the blue-haired man suprised most of the room's occupants when she shouted, "Who the hell are you?"

The iritating man's eyes sparkled with amusement letting Sheena know he'd known she would crack. "If you must know my name is Yuan. And you are Sheena Fujibayashi..." he turned, "Genis Sage" and finally to the teacher, "and you are the brains of this pitiful group...Raine Sage." They were suprised this man knew their names. "Now that introductions are out of the way back to the important matters."

"The one who created this twisted world was Cruxis' leader, Yggdrasill.", The man now known as Yuan spoke.

"Impossible! No one can create a world like that!" Genis shouted in total disbelief.

Yuan turned his cold eyes to the younger Sage and said, "If that's what you believe, then our conversation ends here."

The elder Sage keeping her level head stops him just as he's about to leave, "...Wait. If Yggdrasill was the one that created the two worlds himself, what can you possibly hope to do against someone like that?"

"And that's not all you tried to kill Colette and the rest of us. You're certainly not on our side. Yet for some reason, you saved us. Why?" her little brother added moving closer to her.

Their host gave them a twisted smirk before he started shaking his head. "...You're not as stupid as I thought."

The aggressive woman responded before the others could, "**EXCUSE ME**!"

The aggrivating man closed his eyes not bothering to look her way. "...Our goal is to stop Martel's revival. Therefore, the Chosen, who would become her vessel, was an obstacle." spoke Botta moving towards the group slowly. Yuan then opened his eyes and said, "Unfortunately, the Chosen completed the angel transformation. The Chosen is now a lethal weapon whose only goal is self-preservation. We wouldn't dare lay a hand on her. But recently we found the key to stop Martel's resurrection. We no longer need the Chosen!" glancing at Colette.

"...What!" was Sheena's response while the other two just look confused.

Botta cringed before he moved around the group to whisper something into his leader's ear. Having superior hearing than humans both Sages managed to catch one word which further confused them..._"Lloyd"_. Immediately after speaking Botta moved back only to be backhanded by Yuan, "You idiot! How could you let that to happen!" Botta immediately started begging for forgiveness.

Raine whispered to Sheena what she'd heard causing the summoner to squeak. Both men looked at her while Genis slapped his forehead and shook his head. Before the elder half-elf could stop her Sheena demanded, "Lloyd! What's so special about him?"

Yuan glared at her and stated coldly, "That's none of your concern! You and your friends no longer have any value." He glanced at his soldiers and gave a nod causing the soldiers to pull out their weapons on the group. The group quickly put their backs to each other and Sheena kicked the little worm as he approached with his men.

He kneeled on the floor clutching his side. "Ugh!"

His soldiers quickly surrounded him as one of them shouted "Lord Yuan!"

Before the soldiers could seek retribution on Sheena the second in command stopped them, "No! It's his wound from Hima!"

Still holding his side Yuan said to no one in particular, "Kratos...How many times must you get in my way!"

_"Wound from Hima?"_ echoed through the minds of the three before the four of them took off. The Mizuhoean quickly summoned Corrine to slow the Renegade soldiers down. As the group made their way through the base Sheena suggested the group head to Tethe'alla and visit the Imperial Research Academy. "They are studying Exspheres and may know something about Cruxis Crystals as well."

The Sages were both sold as this may get at least one member of their group back. Genis looked at her as they ran and asked, "Does Tethe'alla have a chosen?" He immediately regretted his words when Sheena's eye began to twitch again.

"Unfortunately", she said through gritted teeth, "The world regeneration ritual is carried out in Tethe'alla as well. The Church of Martel exists, too."

Raine listening in on the two added while glancing back at Colette who still followed them, "If they've been carrying out the regeneration that many times, why hasn't Martel's vessel been completed yet?" Then she began to speculate again, "Perhaps those corpses lined up in the Tower of Salvation were...No, never mind."

The other woman tried to comfort her, "Your right. There are too many things that we don't know: Cruxis' objective, the Renegades, the method to save Colette...so let's just do what we can for now...it's off to Tethe'alla?" She was happy when silver haired woman nodded.

Sheena told Raine and Genis about how to travel between the two worlds, "My understanding is that you can travel to Tethe'alla by passing through a distortion in space. As far as I know, crafts called Rheairds are the only things that can do that. Following me...I think I know where they are." Minutes and many guards later the group found the Rheairds and the summoner rushed them onto the vehicles, "Hurry! Or they'll catch us!" Moments later the group took off through the now open hatch in the side of the base.

The shortest party memeber happily shouted, "Tethe'alla...here we come!" as the Rheairds vanished.

* * *

In a small forest near a shrine a figure moans as it starts to awaken. The young male opens his brown eyes to look around and uses both hands to lift himself off the ground. The figure moves one arm his hand to rub his head when he notices both hands are still holding him up. Looking at the hand in front of him and glancing down he sees he now has four arms and hands before letting out string of curses. He starts to panick as he can tell his four arms are all real and attached to him. Then he remembers his dream or what he thought was a dream.

_-Flashback Begins-_

_There is immense pain in his chest as he wakes. The boy looks down at where he knew he had been struck and saw the wound almost completely healed, even the blood on his body had flowed back into him. From the pain he knew he was still alive and not in heaven, "Sorry mom...guess I won't be joining you just yet."_

_He started to stand up as he felt his muscles begin to spasm. There was indescribable pain in his shoulders extending down both arms and to the middle of his chest. He struggled to take his shirt off to survey any damage he was unaware of. Once the shirt was off the pain lessened a little before spiking again as he felt like his shoulders and arms were trying to split. He watched in horror as his arms split to form two more arms just before the pain caused him to lose conciusness._

_-Flashback Ends-_

Surveying his arms and shoulders he noticed his shoulders now twice as thick as they had been before. Cautiously using one hand presssing down on one shoulder he felt that his shoulders had thickened and were connected to both arms, then checked the other side for the same results. He was worried that his rear arms might lack flexibility or have caused his front arms that loss, so he experimented a little to find his rear arms even more flexible than his front arms and perfect for defending himself from a rear attack. Glancing down at his body again he was suprised to see his muscles were now well defined and demonstrating power with every movement. He was never the vain type but other than the four-arm thing the ladies would love him.

Then upon remembering he was stuck like this he began to panick again. Then he heard a strong, commanding voice, "Do not worry so." Quickly he searched the forest around him and the shrine behind him. He found no one there and began to question his sanity when the voice spoke again. "Your not insane...now stop that!" The boy realized the owner of this voice must be able to read his mind. "Exactly my boy."

The boy asked out loud, "Who are you?"

The voice chuckled before answering, "I am a part of you." Then paused a moment before continuing, "I've been a part of you for a long time. I stepped in during your fight and saved you." This was not the answer he wanted to hear and he was certain this voice knew it. "Patience young one...all will be revealed in time. For now I suggest you learn how to fight." He became very annoyed hearing this as he already knew how to fight. "I agree you have some skill fighting, but not with four arms...it's different from what you are used to. I can link my mind with you to help you, but you must master this on your own."

Seeing no other option he opened his mind up to the foreign being before catching a glimpse of a man with deep blue eyes and should-length blonde hair staring at him. Immediately his mind was filled with knowledge on how to use his extra arms. To him it was like receiving distorted knowledge or perhaps...distorted memories?

Moments passed by before the knowledge ended and he knew he could control his knew arms, but would require practice before he'd be able to defend himself at his best once more. "Before I leave young one...I have one more thing for you. Use mana in your body...picture it in your mind and then transform it into weapons for yourself." The boy annoyed at being called young one again thought back to the voice _"Old timer"_ before following his instructions. He tried and failed to do anything, but being himself he was not about to give up. He quickly tried again and again for three and a half hours before he finally decided to rest a bit.

He could already hear the voice's disappointment and was determined that after a short rest he would follow the instruction or die trying...again...or almost dying anways. The sun was starting to go down and he decided he needed to eat something. He made a fire using nearby materials and pulled out what little food he had. He quickly inhaled his sandwich and knew it would have to be enough for now. Reaching for his shirt he realized he would have to have tailored or get a new shirt as his thickened shoulders and extra arms could easily rip through such material and that was his favorite shirt. Before he could get depressed about his situation he heard a noise in the forest. It was a deep, loud roar. He knew it was so kind of monster and knew that even if he put out the fire the beast would sniff him out. He tried to create the weapons from the voice's instructions, but again failed. Looking around for something to defend himself with he grabbed two burning limbs out of the fire and two sturdy sticks he found nearby.

He knew his current weapons would do little good, but what choice did he have. He waited patiently for the beast to show itself. He heard and saw trees start to fall down and knew where the beast would strike. The beast quickly approached the fire and in the light the boy could see he was fighting a young dragon slightly bigger than him. But something about this dragon disturbed him, like how the dragon had bloodshot eyes and was exuding a threatening aura. The dragon quickly spotted the boy and charged him forcing the boy to defend himself. Strike the beast with two of the sticks and shoving one of the burning limbs in the dragon's face the beast moved back, but not before swinging his tail around and throwing the pitiful creature that dare strike him into the woods. When he was hit it caused him to drop most of his weapons leaving him with one thick stick.

The dragon blasted fire into the forest trying to hit the boy and managed to burn the boy's right arms before he could dodge. Cringing in the pain the struggled to get up as the dragon lauched another attack using his claws to pin the boy down while he tried to eat the boy. The boy managed to stop the dragon from eating him by shoving the limb into the dragons mouth, but the dragon snapped it off and moved its head towards its prey again. The beast started to open its mouth as it prepared to feast when the boy under his claws took the stick and stabbed the dragon in the eye with the sharp point the dragon had created when he'd snapped the stick. The dragon howled in pain and buried its claws deeper before moving off the boy. Taking advantage of his new freedom the boy moved out from under the dragon. The dragon recovered somewhat and prepared to torched this poor fool.

"I...I am...I am LLOYD IRVINE! AND I WON'T DIE HERE!", he shouted. Then in his mind he was able to picture the weapons perfectly and to his suprise the weapons formed in each hand. His front hands wielded to powerful swords while his rear hand now wielded staff weapons. Each one different, but obviously powerful. Lloyd charged the dragon causing it to delay it's attack giving Lloyd a clear shot at it. Using the full might of his new weapons he stabbed and sliced the dragon to peaces with rediculous ease. When he finished blood was all over him and his weapons, but then the dragon's body and bloody just faded away like it had never been there. Lloyd would have thought just that if not for the destruction of his campsite and his wounds.

Now he began to wonder how he was going to get back to Colette and how his friends would react to his predicament. It was then he decided he wouldn't tell them about he strange tranformation as he looked down at his blades and staffs. He'd have to come up with some way to hide his 'condition' from them, maybe hide his extra arms inside his shirt. Whatever he had to do he'd cross that bridge later...for now he wanted food and sleep.


	3. Things gone wrong

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia or any of it characters.

**Path of Ascension**

**Chapter 3**

Scene: Morning in the forest near the strange shrine.

The sunlight started to break through the woods and shine in the young swordsman's face forcing him to wake. Cracking open his eyes he felt oddly full of energy given the lack of food and now nonexistant desire to sleep in. Picking up his shirt that would no longer fit he got up and started to look for something to eat for breakfast. For the first hour or so he came up empty handed, but Lloyd being the stubborn teenager he is refused to quit and ventured deeper into the forest away from the shrine. After another hour of fruitless searching he stumbled across a village, but the people in this village all had pointy ears and seemed incredibly 'stiff'.

As Lloyd approached he figured he'd try to slip into this elf village and buy some new clothes until he could find someone qualified enough to tailor his favorite red shirt. Knowing he had no alternative but to enter shirtless, he did just that. A lot of the elves turned and blatantly stared at the youth making him feel very self-concious. While the elves did stare at him no one spoke a word once they caught site of the four-armed boy or approached him.

He moved towards one group of elves that back away a little before he asked, "Where can I get some clothes?" The elves pointed him to a hut just a few feet away never taking their eyes off of the boy. He thanked them as best he could before walking to the shop. Upon entering the shop he found the shop attendant to be a beatiful blonde elf. "_She's cute. I hope I don't scare her_.", he thought.

When the bell over the door rang alerting her to a potential customer she finished moving some items back into place before turning towards a boy...with four arms. She demonstrated excellent use of her lungs and nearly made Lloyd go deaf in the process.

Hearing the scream the elves of the village all charged to the shop intending to execute the strange man that entered their village. Upon barging into the door they found the four-armed boy holding covering his ears with one pair of hands and using the other pair to block objects being thrown at him while trying to calm her down. "Lady I'm not here to hurt you! I just want some clothes!"

The crowd grabbed the strange apparition and dragged him out into the the middle of the village. The crowd started to get restless and some of them attacked intending to 'teach' this freak a lesson. As the villagers started to fight him Lloyd quickly remembered the knowledge received from the voice and put it to use. At first he was able to block the villagers wild attacks, but after one particular elf cracked a the shaft of a broom across his back he lost his defense. The villagers started to get more violent even though the young man couldn't fight back.

The young elf from the shop couldn't stand watching this any longer and threw herself between the villagers and the strange boy. "What are you doing!", one villager shouted before two elves yanked her away trying to 'protect' her.

"No you don't understand!", she yelled into the crowd. The angry mob ignored her until she threw herself between them again and yelled, "He didn't hurt me or try to hurt me!" Hearing this the mob stopped their attacks and back away slightly given Lloyd room to breathe.

Lloyd now how cuts and bruises all over his body and his ribs really hurt where the mob had been kicking him while he was down. There was also a particularly nasty gash on the right side of his head at the hair line. He felt like Genis had hit him with a hundred "_Stalagmites"_ and he knew these injuries would take atleast a week to heal.

The villagers parted as a figure moved through them towards the newcomer before demanding, "What is going on here!" The elves surrounding the elf looked away and at the ground rather than responding. Lloyd managed to look up and see a graying elf with simple green robes. The elder seemed furious at the entire crowd for the lack of response. The elder turned to Lloyd and the female elf to ask both, "Perhaps you two can tell me what this is about?"

Lloyd got the impression that while the elf was not happy about what happened he wouldn't be particularly inclined to believe anything he said so he allowed the shop elf to speak, "Elder...I can explain." The elder waited for her to catch her breath and continue, "This...man entered my shop" gesturing towards Lloyd, "and...well he suprised me is all. I screamed and the others broke the door to my shop down before throwing him out here and attacking him." She turned to Lloyd and he could see her bright green eyes full of regret, "I didn't mean for that to happen to you...I'm sorry." The young swordsman smiled and nodded his head in acceptable of her apology.

The elder looked Lloyd over and turned to her again and asked, "He did nothing to you to warrant an attack? Nothing at all?" She shook her head and the elder's calm face turned to a look of pure anger directed at his people. "So...you...all of you hear a scream and leap straight to beating him to death without hearing both sides." The crowd now looked ashamed of their hasty actions before the elder looked to the boy, "Boy...what's your name and purpose here?"

Lloyd managed to open his eyes one which was starting to swell shut and look the elder right in the eyes, "My name is Lloyd Irvine and as for why I'm here..." He paused for a minute grimacing in pain while thinking "_I'll gladly take the pain of eating Raine's cooking over this any day"_. When he continued all could hear the barely contained venom in his voice, "As I said before...I'm just here to get some clothes."

Taking the time to consider the actions of his people the village leader responded, "Well Lloyd on behalf of my people I apologize for their hasty actions and would like to make amends for the careless behavior." Hearing this many elves looked at the elder in disbelief and hoping he wasn't going where they thought he was with this. "I would like to extend an invitation to you to stay here until your wounds have healed." Immediately upon the words leaving his mouth several elves groaned before he fixed them with a harsh glare. He turned to Lloyd and continued, "Seeing as how we've caused these injuries we shall heal them...free of any expense on your part. We will provide food, clothes, and anything else you require during your stay here. Is this proposal acceptable to you?"

Lloyd took the time to consider the elf's words and his condition before turning to politely respond, "Yes it is. Thank you sir." The village leader motioned for the other elves to help the boy up and he was taken to the clinic to be treated.

The elven doctor was suprised at his patients extra 'attachments', but quickly covered it up and went to work. Within an hour the young man in front of the doctor was fidgeting clearly tired of all the poking, proding, medicines and oinments to prevent infections, and most certainly bandages. His patient had numerous cuts, bruises and two broken ribs that were no firmly set in place to heal, but other than that nothing serious. The physican was fascinated with the subjects extra arms, but before he could ask anything two elves asked the boy to come with them.

After treatment he was escorted to the village elders hut where a banquet of food had been prepared for him. The host looked to Lloyd and simply stated, "Dig in." Eating in the home of such an influential person Lloyd used all the manners taught to him by Raine and Dirk. During his meal he noticed the old elf had dismissed the guards and kept a stern eye on him.

When he finished the strange visitor thanked his host before the elf informed his young guest, "I'm afraid we have no clothing that can...appropriately accomditate you." He allowed the words to sink in before continuing, "Your extra appendages will require the clothes be tailored specifically for you."

Understanding where the old man was going Lloyd said, "It's ok. Is the tailor here any good with dwarven clothing?" At the elfs' confirmation the youth pulled out his red shirt and asked, "If it's not too much trouble could you have this one expanded to accomidate my arms? Ya see I don't really want everyone to see them. It causes too much trouble."

The elder feeling sympathetic and replied, "I'll have it adjusted so your arms can be hidden under this shirt, you'll have a few extra like it...And I'll have a few extra shirts made so you won't have to hide your arms if you don't want to." The youths' face brightened somewhat knowing the elf in front of him was really trying to help. The young boy looked towards the old elf and thanked him for everything.

* * *

_-Welgaia-_

_"How could I do that to him?"_ was the one thought echoing through the mind of Kratos Auron. In the last few days the seraphim had locked himself in his room and now sat on the floor where he had collapsed. His room now served as a cell for the shattered angel. Since he killed Lloyd all he could think about is how the promising young swordsman looked when the angels' sword tore through the boys' chest and the blood that still stained his clothes.

With his exhanced hearing he heard someone approach his door long before they knocked. "Leave! I'm not in the mood right now." His visitor ignored his warning and overrode the locking mechanisms on the door. He turned to see who was disturbing him to meet a blue-haired half elf. "Hello Yuan. What do you want?" he asked not trying to hide his annoyance.

"Just to talk." a few minutes passed before he spoke, "I...I heard about what happened." The half elfs' tone was filled with sympathy for the tortured soul in front of him. "You have my condolances old friend." Yuan couldn't help but feel that Kratos could not look any more pathetic than he did now. His old friend looked like hell. He obviously hadn't eat, groomed, or attempted to hide his tears. Yuan knew Lloyd's death would be devastating on Kratos after finding out the boy was alive all this time, but to end the teenagers' life with his own hands would be catastrophic to the mercenary.

The human turned angel used his sleeve to wipe the tears from his eyes before he questioned Yuans' presence here. "Why did you come here? Did Yggdrasill send you to fetch his loyal dog?", he spat at the half elf. He knew Yggdrasill wouldn't care about his loss, but it still meant something to him and damn it he wanted time to grieve.

"No. Yggdrasill didn't send, I came on my own. After all you were there for me when 'she' was killed, you gave me someone to talk to when I needed it most. Would it not be appropriate to do the same for you?", Yuan said calmly ignoring his friends' misdirected anger. He really just wanted to offer him a chance to join the Renengades, but knew this could too easily backfire on him right now.

Casting an apologetic look to his friend he responded, "Your right and...thank you Yuan, but it's just too fresh for me right now." The seraphim took a deep breath before continuing, "When I'm ready I'll talk."

Yuan nodded and walked to the door opening it but not steping through. "Call for me when your ready. But knowing this, he like his mother, would not want you to suffer like this. Especially if he had known the truth." With that he left and the door closed leaving Kratos to his own devices.


	4. Quest for the Truth

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia or any of it characters.

**Path of Ascension**

**Chapter 4**

Scene: Elf Village the next morning.

Cracking one soft brown eye Lloyd awoke to find the village elder standing next to his bed. "Is it morning already?", he groaned. He watched with his one open eye as his host nodded and motioned for him to follow. He shook off the desire for additional sleep and quickly pursued the older man. When he arrived in the livingroom he found the shop keeper from yesterday sitting on a blue couch next a thick, wrapped package.

The shop keep smiled at Lloyd and stood up. She walked up to him and bowed her head as she apologized, "I'm sincerely sorry about what happened yesterday. I didn't mean to get you hurt so badly." The young business woman looked down at the young man's injuries and noticed something strange. She directed a commanding look at Lloyd's face and told him, "Sit down for a second." After the teen complied with her demand she removed part of the bandage across his stomach and found that the nasty flesh wounds he had been sporting yesterday were completely healed leaving not a scar. "How did...?", she questioned.

The brown haired teen looked at the exposed flesh and was equally suprised that there were no wounds or even dried blood on him. He spoke quietly without really intending to, "What's happening to me!"

The Elder who had been watching the confused guest asked, "What's wrong? Isn't this normal...", he paused as he looked the boy over one good time and then finished, "whatever you are?" He was suprised when the strange visitor shook his head and put one the front pair of hands on the back of his head.

"No...I am...was...human. Now I'm not sure what I am." he informed the elf. Lloyd was really beginning to feel uncomfortable as he was forced to think about his extra appendages once more. True he had had to deal with them during the night, but for the most part he'd been able to keep his mind off of them. The young swordsman sighed before he began his tale. He told the two elves about his life as a normal human, The Journey of Regeneration, his friends, and his painful transformation. During his story when he named his friends he saw the two elves quickly glance at each other before trying to cover it up when he told them about the traitor, Kratos. _"They know something...I just know it."_, he thought to himself.

After the four-armed boy finished his story somethings began to become clear to the Elder. He had his suspicion as to why the human now had four arms and knew he must tread lightly if his suspicions were correct. "Perhaps there is a way to help clear up some of what's happened to you." he told the boy.

Immediately following the old man's words the teen pratically jumped at his host, "What! Tell me please!" He was happy that he may finally get some answers, but a little afraid of what it might mean. There was after all the possibility that he was going to be stuck with four arms for the rest of his life, but he certainly hoped that wasn't the case.

The head elf spoke once more expecting such an outburst, "There's a shrine in the Torent Forest. It may hold answers you seek...But beware there could be a truth there you are not prepared for." He was certain the boy would ignore his warning of caution and rush head first into the forest. _"Just like his father. I guess somethings are truley hereditary."_, he thought.

Before Lloyd could reach the door the shop keeper grabbed him by one of his left arms. "Wait...I worked all night on these for you." she said as she grabbed the package from the couch. She opened it up to reveal two red shirts that only slightly differed from one another.

One shirt he immediately recognized as the one he'd asked to have adjusted and the other he guessed was the extra one the Elder spoke of. The additional shirt had two extra sleeves behind the first pair so he could have all his arms exposed instead of hiding them inside his shirt. His shirt now had the holes sown up and the shoulders had been expanded so that his other arms could be easily hidden inside. Trying on both shirts he found the four-armed to be especially comfortable. The normal looking shirt made it possible to hide his condition as long as he kept his arms wrapped tightly to his body. The swordsman decided to go with the four-armed shirt for now and quickly slipped it back on before he extended his hand to the shop keeper, "Thank you for your generousity. This shirt is just like mine except with extra sleeves, but still...it means a lot. May I know your name?"

She blushed as the boy had almost caught her drooling over the physique she had just seen, then she realized he didn't catch that and for this she was greatful. She remembered his question and replied, "My name is Ayena. Ayena Sahaleen. And you are most welcome." When she said the last part she turned red again thinking that her tone had sounded seductive.

Lloyd thanked the Elder and Ayena for their help before he got serious, "Can either you please give me directions to the shrine?"

Ayena looked away and the older elf looked the young boy right in the eyes. "I'll give you the directions after lunch and then you can go there. Before you say anything...I just want to make sure you have plenty of energy for the forest. It's not a place for the weak to enter." He was glad that his guest agreed, but he knew the kid was dying to get some answers.

* * *

In Welgaia Kratos continued to think about the young man he'd killed in the Tower of Salvation. _"Something just doesn't make sense...Why did his body just disappear? That's not normal."_ the angel thought. "Perhaps I can find a way to bring him back..." he said to himself, but quickly shook off that idea remembering what that line of thinking had done to Yggdrasill. The Seraphim left his room to get away from the self made prison and walk amongst humans once more. As he left one last thing crossed him mind, _"I destroyed your life...Now I will atone for it. I will put an end to this myself once and for all."_

Once the angel used the warp pad another figure teleported in. "I guess I shall have to keep an eye on you after all Kratos. I guess you can never really change a human heart even if you change the body." said the angered being. He would not tolerate another betrayal from this man. "Pronyma don't let him out of your sight.", he ordered.

"Yes...Lord Yggdrasill.", replied the obedient servant.

* * *

Lloyd made good time getting to the forest, mostly because he had inhaled his food and quickly thanked the cooks before asking the Elder for the directions once more. The old elf sighed but relented to let the hyper teen have his way for now. Once the swordsman had reached the Torrent Forest he found himself quickly beginning to dislike wearing his new shirt. _"Maybe this has something to do with why I have four arms?"_, he guessed. Shrugging he discarded his shirt and found himself liking having his upper body exposed to the world. The part that bothered him though is that it felt like he's always been like this. He flexed his arm muscles before summoning his two swords and staffs.

The monsters in this forest were unlike any he could remember, but he found that he enjoyed the challenge and somehow knew where their weaknesses were. By the time he had reached the shrine he was covered in the blood of the creatures he'd fought against. "Just great! -Sigh- At the very least I didn't have to worry about getting it on my shirt. A hot bath should fix the rest, but first things first...I need answers." he said to himself as he approached the shrine.

Once the teen reached the shrine a bright golden light blinded him. When the light receeded in front of the boy was a blonde man with cold, blue eyes. What caught the boy's attention was the fact the man had four arms just like him. "Who...who are you?", he managed to say with as much diginity as he could muster facing such an imposing being. Sure he had no idea who or what this was, but whatever the man was he had a tremendously powerful aura about him.

The blonde continued to stare at the young one in front of him as he folded his front arms and lowered his rear arms to his sides. He waited until the boy realized that he wasn't there in flesh but a small portion of his spirit alone. Then he spoke, "I am Origin. And we have much to discuss young Lloyd Irvine."

To say the least Lloyd was shocked that this being knew his name, but the way he said it made the swordsman believe he's known it a lot longer than a few days. It was then he looked the being over while he tried to gather the courage to speak. Besides the blue eyes and blonde hair he found the 'ghost' had gold colored armor floating above both shoulders. The armor looked kinda like huge claws providing protection for both shoulders. He also had many of some kind of thin, yellow protrusions extending from his back pointing towards the ground. Origin's legs were covered by some thick purple armor that Lloyd could tell was composed of mana and hovering around his body appeared to be a number of sharp arrows forming a circle around his body. Lloyd thought these reminded him a lot of a compass without the letters.

By this time the usually brave began to feel his courage return almost like an outside force was restoring it. He took a deep breath and asked, "What things?"

With that Origin allowed a brief smile to show on his face before he quickly covered it up. "Let's start with your current situation...", he began.


	5. Destiny Revealed

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia or any of it characters.

**Path of Ascension**

**Chapter 5**

Lloyd stared eagerly at Origin awaiting whatever information he may have, but was slightly disappointed when the being gave a saddened look instead. "Please understand that this is a very serious matter. What you are about to learn will change your life forever. DO NOT TAKE IT LIGHTLY!", the blonde cautioned.

"Funny...I heard the same thing from the Elder back at the village. I understand that there will be reprecusions for my answers, but _have_ to know the truth.", the boy pleaded. He was already tired of people saying that even though in reality only two people have said that to him, but they didn't understand how he felt. Here he is formerly a normal human boy with nothing special about...now he's got an extra set of arms, can summon weapons from pure mana, he had far more mana in his body than even an elf had, and he had developed a strong desire to go around shirtless all in the last few days. Damn it he wanted answers and he wanted them now, before any other freaky things happened to him.

Origin had watched the boy before his spirit and knew everything he was thinking. _"To think I used to be like that..."_, he thought absent mindedly. "Irvine! If you are truely ready then we shall begin."

Finally he was getting somewhere! The teen moved closer to the spirit as he waited anxiously for those answers. _"About time too..."_ the boy thought with a self-satisfied look on his face.

"Let's start from the beginning shall we.", the spirit began as both men sat down on a nearby log. "Long ago Kratos sealed me away using a powerful seal that I have never seen before. In order to break that seal I used a power we Summon Spirits possess..." he paused letting the swordsman absorb the information, "That power allows us to 'incarnate' ourselves into human bodies. Sort of like reincarnation except without centuries in between and the memory loss."

A little confused the smaller of the two asked, "So you were betrayed by Kratos too?"

Origin scolded Lloyd, "Kratos isn't everything. Your overlooking the 'Big Picture' here." He shook his head wondering if he should just come out and say it. No...he couldn't do that, it could destroy the promising young man if he wasn't careful. "As I said I was able to incarnate a part of myself into a human body."

He was really trying to understand where the older being was going, "So how's that tie in with my transformation?"

The Summon Spirit was sure that the boy was on some level already in denial, but he contiued regardless since he had already come this far, "The part of myself that escaped Kratos' seal was born into the body of a young, male mortal...named Lloyd Irvine." He knew he had just dropped the nuclear variety bombshell on his mortal self and knew that this was the critical point.

"So...I'm you...But that can't be. I'm me.", he rambled starting to sound a bit crazed. "I know I'm me. Your lying...You turned me into this...for some kind of sick game." he accused the blonde. He stopped as he had his arms caught by Origin when he took a swing at him.

The sorrow filled entity hugged his counterpart trying to comfort him the best he could. Of course he would never show such sentiments around other people, but this wasn't other people...Lloyd was truely a small portion of himself. "It's ok. I knew this would be hard for you, but I also know that you of all people can deal with it. You are a part of me after all.", he said trying to make the teen smile once more.

"If what...what your saying is true, then everything I know about myself is a lie.", spoke the broken human. His tone was so full of pain and sadness.

Attempting to alleviate some of the swordsman's pain he corrected, "No. You were born Lloyd Irvine, son of Anna Irvine. The only thing that's changed is that you now know you are something much more than just a human. You are the 'King of the Summon Spirits'."

Hearing his new title he lifted his head and looked his counterpart in the eyes. In them he could see that the spirit was truely telling him the truth about all of this and truely believed he was capable of handling it. "I'm the 'King of the Summon Spirits', huh? Does that mean I have all these cool powers?", he finished beginning to sound excited again.

The wiser being couldn't help but chuckle out loud as he remembered that he used to behave in same manner when he was much younger. His father Maxwell would always be on his case for the chaos he would cause the humans and elves of this world. Maxwell was someone he didn't like to think about since he always seemed to be talking down to Origin. Quickly he stopped his train of thought and said, "Yes you do have powers...uh magics if you will, but most of your...no our power and knowledge is still sealed within Kratos. The good news is he can't use any of it since it is tuned specifically to our spiritual presence."

Relieved the teen replied, "Good that's one less thing to worry about. Wait a second! You were that voice I heard when I woke up after my transformation!" Now he finally knew who he had been talking to and what he meant.

Somewhat amused at how slow Lloyd could be Origin informed him, "Yes I am indeed the one whom you spoke to. You should know that I've also been aware of everything you have thought and felt...like how you." He could help but smirk when the boy glanced down at his bare chest, "Yes we've grown quite fond of walking around like this. Your already getting used to it."

Lloyd hated to admit it, but his other half was right. He did like the strange change in his personality even the old Lloyd was far too immodest to do as he was now. Now he had his well sculped chest and abs only display for the world to see. The muscles in his arms while not huge clearly contained enormous strength.

The other's face and tone became somewhat harsh as he went on, "We must find a way to break that seal so that we can become complete again. Only then will you be able to hide yourself as a human or show your true self as Origin." He knew they must be prepared for anything since Kratos had somehow managed to contain someone as powerful as himself. In a softer tone he said, "When Kratos stabbed you in the tower he triggered an awakening. Our awakening. Some of our memories and power returned to us, but now I'm afraid my time like this has come to an end. I cannot remain seperate from you now that you accept what you are, I shall merge with you beginning your true restoration."

As Origin concluded his sentence he turned into a transparent mass of mana that flew into Lloyd. The swordsman doubled over in intense pain as his body absorbed the missing part of himself. He saw memories of himself as Origin in the past giving a sword to some shadow covered figure. He remembered his strong dislike of his father Maxwell and other seeemingly random memories. After sometime had passed he felt the pain die down as it was replaced with a feeling of enormous power and knowledge that he'd had long ago, "It's begun. I'm coming for ya Kratos."

* * *

Meanwhile in Welgaia the leader of Cruxis felt the enormous surge of mana. He recognized the signature, but couldn't believe that it was possible. "Kratos must have ended his life or perhaps Pronyma delt with him.", he said smugly, "That takes care of that loose end. Now I have to move quickly to reseal that troublesome spirit." The angel hovered over to a communications terminal and sent a transmission to Pronyma.

"Yes my Lord?", she greeted her master.

"I need you back here now that Kratos is no more.", he informed her. To his suprise the leader of the five Desian Grand Cardinals returned a questioning gaze, "You did kill Kratos, right?" His subject shook her head and that's when he really began to sweat. _"Kratos assured me that there is no way Origin could escape that seal on his own."_ he thought to himself. He quickly ordered Pronyma to return to him regardless with Kratos in tow.

Pronyma approached the subject of her master's current situation, "Lord Kratos...Lord Yggdrasill sent me to fetch you. Come we me, Now!"

The seraphim had a suspicion that the woman in front of him had been keeping tabs on him and he knew he must be careful otherwise he would die before he could set things right. In his usual unemotional voice he said, "I'm busy right now. If it's urgent you handle it. Don't bother me with trivial matters and I'm sure Yggdrasill would agree."

She knew he was intentionally pushing her buttons, but she would not let him have to satisfaction of knowing that he had succedded. "This _is_ an **urgent** matter that only you could handle. That is why you will come with me."

His curiousity had been piqued, "What could possibly require my presence?" The angel knew that for Yggdrasill to need him that badly something big must have happened.

Getting irritated with the human-turned-angel she told him what Yggdrasill had told her before he ended the transmission, "It would seem that Origin has escaped your seal."

"Impossible!", the mercenary countered, "The only way for the seal to be broken is for me to die and release all the mana contained within my body. No other way exists for that blood seal to be broken." _"What kind of fool does Yggdrasill take me for?...No matter if something has happened I should at the very least appear to still be a loyal servant."_ the angel thought. With that Kratos rechecked his seal finding it intact, but when he reached out with his enchanced senses he briefly felt what could only have been Origin off in the distance. _"How is this possible?"_, he mentally questioned himself before heading in that direction.

* * *

Back in the Torrent forest the incomplete summon spirit stood he decided to put his quest to eliminate Kratos on hold for now, "I have to save Colette first, then I'll deal with you." Lloyd knew that he couldn't let the others find out about his predicament because of the danger it could put them in. Secretly however he was also afraid that his friends would reject him because of what he is and how he looked right now.

As the teen began his journey back to the elf village he noticed that all the monsters he had fight through before were keeping their distance. Not like they were terrified of him just more like they knew who he was and respected him. It was a pleasant however brief distraction from the conflict within his own heart. Though he may not have let on his feelings he truely did love Colette and would do anything for her. _"Now what will she say about me?...Probably get away from me you four-armed freak."_, as he mentally tortured himself. He was disgusted at himself for believing 'his' angel would ever react like that, but the fear just wouldn't disperse.

The swordsman began to think about his other friends the Professor and Genis. He knew there was something off about those two and now he knew what it was, but he wouldn't tell them that he had discovered their secret. No he would wait until they were ready to tell him themselves and then he would let them know that he had already known.

As he neared the forest edge he again began to think back to his father Maxwell and how strict the older spirit had always been on him. Maxwell would point out every flaw Origin had and force him to overcome it. Also during his training with his powers and duties as a summon spirit his father had always made him practice vigirously until everything was perfect. To the young man he had always felt as though his father held absolutely no emotional attachment to his children at all. "I really shouldn't be thinking these things...I just had a bastard of a father! CASE CLOSED!" he snapped at the forest surrounding him.

* * *

Back in the village the Elder and Ayena felt a massive surge of mana appear out of nowhere. "He found his answers I see.", spoke the head elf. He was concerned about the future and knew a lot would be riding on his guest. _"Hopefully he will overcome the trials ahead."_, he thought.

Ayena wasn't sure what was going on and truth be told she didn't think that she really wanted to know. "Good luck Lloyd...with whatever the future holds for you."

The two elves stood side by side awaiting the return of their unexpected visitor.


	6. What Next?

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia or any of it characters.

**Path of Ascension**

**Chapter 6**

Lloyd reached the village just as night was beginning to fall. Upon entering the village the usual elves stared at his with a combination of disgust and morbid curiosity. _"I guess they've got nothing better to do with their time. I'd love to see the look on their faces if they knew that I'm Origin."_, he quickly brushed the thought aside and walked to the Elder's home.

Ayena pounced on the young swordsman as soon as he opened the door. She dragged him through before he had a chance to protest, "Lloyd is everything ok? Is anything broken? Any injuries?"

The Elder pulled the young merchant off his guest and scolded, "Ayena! Give the boy some room to breath."

She blushed with embarrassment as the young elf realized just how mother-henish she was behaving. "Sorry. I was just worried is all."

"It's alright. Kinda reminds me of Raine so I'm used to it.", Lloyd said as he accepted his host's invitation to sit on the couch.

The older elf looked Lloyd over and the young man was fully aware of it. "So...you know now. Don't you?"

The teen nodded and locked eyes with the old elf. His eyes delivered an unspoken question, _"How did you know?"_

Giving a soft chuckle the village leader said, "I remember the 'feel' of your mana from long ago. Even fragmented as you are now I couldn't help but notice." He offered his young guest a gentle smile before he made the teen an offer, "You should stay here...just until you figure out your next step."

Returning the smile Lloyd stretched his arms making his bones pop. _"That feels much better. Hmm...Oh I see." _The incomplete spirit gave a wolfish smirk at the young elf currently goggling over him, "Like what you see?"

Ayena was furious that she'd been caught. _"And I tried to so hard not to get caught."_ She stood up and pointed her finger right in his face, "I'm just checking you over for injuries. So don't get any ideas." _"Wow. I lie great."_, she thought before sitting down again.

"Oh...Sorry. Well as you can see I'm fine.", he apologized. Of course he still didn't completely believe her, but she didn't need to know that. Lloyd eventually told the Elder and Ayena what he learned from the shrine.

The older elf took it quite well as he already knew, but Ayena was completely shocked to hear that the boy in front of her was actually Origin. _"THE ORIGIN! THE KING OF THE SUMMON SPIRITS! THE SPIRIT OUR VILLAGE HAS ALWAYS WATCHED OVER! I never would've guessed...",_she thought as she listened intently.

After Lloyd finished his tale his host suggested that tomorrow he try to find his friends. The teen agreed with the elf on this. In fact he already missed Genis, Raine, Sheena, and...Colette. _"I promise I'll return you to normal. I swear on my life I won't fail you again."_, were his thoughts before he turned in for the night.

* * *

In Welgaia Kratos and Pronyma entered Yggdrasill's audience chamber. "Well what have you learned thus far", inquired the mercenary.

The blonde angel glared down at Kratos and barked, "This is your mess Kratos. The seal was supposed to Origin indefinitely, not release a part of him."

The last part caught the seraphim's attention and he seemed to think the words over for a few minutes before asking, "What do you mean...a part of him?"

Glaring at his subordinate the angel spoke, "Origin has not completely escaped the seal." He sighed recalling the information he'd received from the Tower of Salvation's long-range scanning equipment, "It would appear that only part of that spirit has broken free. Currently he seems to be hiding...in Heimdall of all places."

The traitorous mercenary was surprised that the spirit would be in the one place where he would be easily found. _"Origin what are you up to? Why hide in such an obvious location?"_ The swordsman the turned to leave and threw over his shoulder, "I'm going to find out what's going on myself."

Once the spikey haired man left Pronyma spoke up, "What do you think about this Lord Yggdrasill?"

Cruxis leader look down at her and slouched back in his chair, "It would appear as though he's on my side after all." Even so the angel could not get the feeling out of his stomach that the swordsman would eventually betray him after he forced the death of that brat the merc cared about so much. _"For now I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, but that doesn't mean I want keep an eye on you Kratos."__

* * *

_

With the Renegades Yuan had just been informed of the newest twist in the history of Cruxis. "It would seem as though we may have an opening to stop Yggdrasill after all. Botta prepare a small recovery team and send them to Heimdall."

The other half-elf nodded and quickly left to select his best covert men for the job. He knew that his leader wanted Origin's power on their side for obvious reasons. _"With Origin on our side Cruxis will be crippled and the endless cycle of meaningless sacrifice will cease as Martel wishes."__

* * *

_

In the early morning hours Lloyd was again trying to sleep in but the Elder would not permit the spirit to become lazy while under his care. "Come now get up. You've got a lot to do today."

The teen growled back and pulled a pillow over his head. Seeing that the young man would not be cooperative the elf stepped outside and returned with a bucket of ice cold water. _"Remember you brought this on yourself young one."_, he thought before committing such a cruel act.

"WHAT THE HELL! IT'S COLD! IT'S COLD!", Lloyd shouted as he was jumped out of the now soaked bed. Once away from the bed he found the Elder standing near where he'd been sleeping with a smile on his face holding...an empty bucket. "YOU!", he started.

The old elf chuckled and said, "Oh good. Your up."

Sounding pitiful the teen grumbled, "Why? How could you do something so...so low?" He was freezing and his host was to blame for his current condition. It was true that it was much harder for a summon spirit to get sick even if he wasn't complete, but still he felt the cold and hated it with a passion.

Forcing the smile off his face the elf answered flatly, "You wouldn't get up, so I did what I had to do. Besides you've got to start your search for your friends, right?" He watched the boy nod and offered a suggestion, "Perhaps you should start in a nearby city. One of our neighboring cities has the Imperial Research Academy."

"What good will that do me?", Lloyd asked still glaring at the Elder.

"Not you.", the elf corrected, "For your friend Colette. You did say she lost her soul to a Cruxis Crystal. Well as luck would have they are studying such a crystal there."

The young swordsman's eyes light up and he asked, "Where exactly in Sylvarant is that?"

It was then that the old man realized that Origin's memories were still incomplete and that he was currently unaware of the situation. "You're no longer in Sylvarant", he took a deep breath and locked eyes with his guest before continuing, "You are on a world known as Tethe'alla."

Lloyd remembered Sheena telling him that she was from Tethe'alla and figured if she could go between worlds he could find a way home after finding out how to save his friend...no...his love. "Tell me do you know how to travel between the two worlds?"

"I'm afraid I cannot help you there.", the old man replied.

"Well thank you for the information about the Academy and taking care of me these past three days. Is there anything I can do to repay your kindness.", he said to the generous host.

"Just one thing...", the elf said giving a brief pause, "Stop Yggdrasill's madness once and for all."

Giving a quick nod the teen picked up some of the new clothes Ayena had given him the night before and he changed into them. _"I'm so glad to dry again."_ He positioned his extra arms inside his shirt so that no one could tell that they were there and said to the old man, "I will stop him. I hope we'll meet again someday."

"Of that you can be sure...", the Elder whispered as the teen walked out of the room. At the entrance to the village the Elder and Ayena were seeing Lloyd off. The village leader offered Lloyd some food and money to help him on his journey and the merchant brought him some normal weapons and a variety of Gels.

"Thank you both for everything.", he said before leaving the village. He pulled out the map Ayena had given him showing the way to the Imperial Research Academy and began his long walk.


	7. Sybak and Reunions

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia or any of it characters.

**Path of Ascension**

**Chapter 7**

The Seraphim approached the main gate to Heimdall and was determined to get answers even if he had to betray his friends in this village in order to get them. _"Treachery seems to be the only thing I have to offer those around me."_

Once inside the village he walked quickly straight to the Elder's home. "Village Elder? Are you here?", the angel asked at the door.

The door opened to reveal the aging elf, "I knew you would come here Kratos, alas you are too late. Origin has departed from our village and I shall tell you no more."

He was pissed at the elf's blatant disrespect, but he knew that attacking him wouldn't get the answers he sought. _"The stubborn fool would die long before I got anything out of him."_ The mercenary tried to persuade the Elder to tell him anything that might be helpful, but was met with a stone wall every time.

"I suggest you leave now Kratos. The rest of the villagers will not talk either, per my instructions of course.", the old man informed Kratos before shutting the door in his face.

"_Now that was a complete waste of time. If I can't find anyone here I'll have to track Origin on my own."_, he thought as he began to question the villagers. The instant he mentioned Origin the elves would become silent and uncooperative.

Kratos tried different interrogation techniques on thepeople of Heimdall and not one of them told him anything useful. Finally the merc gave up and set out to pickup on the now cold trail of the escaped summon spirit.

As the Seraphim exited Heimdall his communicator sprang to life again. He quickly turned it on and spoke to the other person, "Unless you know where Origin is heading now I have no time for this Yggdrasill."

The other angel smirked wickedly and said, "He's heading for Sybak. He'll be there in just a few hours." Cruxis leader watched as his subordinate nodded and ended the transmission.

"_I guess it's off to Sybak for me then."_, the man thought as he brought forth his wings. He was sure this would allow him to catchup to his prey in no time at all.

* * *

Two hours later Lloyd found himself entering the city on the map given to him. "I think it's called Sybak. Yeah this is it.", he said pleased he'd reached his destination. He then became self conscious of his extra arms again being surrounded by all these normal people. He readjusted his arms hidden underneath his shirt while being careful that no one saw him doing it.

Once he felt a little more secure he started searching the city, "Now where is the Imperial Research Academy?" It took him about fifteen minutes to find the building, but he was able to find it.

As he approached he found two guards standing in front of the main entrance. He made it within twenty feet of the door before the guards stopped him. "Where do you think your going?", the short fat one asked.

Lloyd didn't like the guy's tone in the least and felt the need to 'exchange words', but held back because he needed the cooperation of these people in order to help Colette. "I'm just here to ask one of the researchers a few questions.", he noticed the guards didn't seem to care so he added, "I need to know about Cruxis Crystals in order to help save a friend of mine."

The other guard who was much taller than the swordsman gripped his weapon and said, "I don't care what your reasons for coming are. Unless I receive word from the Royal Family to let you in you don't enter." He then leaned in closer so the boy could see his eyes and said, "Unless of course you want to pick a fight with the guards of the Royal Family."

The young man knew the guard was trying to intimidate him and unfortunately for the idiot in front of Lloyd it wasn't working at all. To add to the anger he felt at anyone trying to frighten him the jerks were refusing to let him talk...just talk to people that could help save Colette's life, "Well sometimes one must do what one must do."

Before either guard could muster a defense the summon spirit tore into both of them. He didn't use his 'mana weapons' for fear that it would attract way too much attention, but that didn't mean he wouldn't use what Ayena had given him. "I'll do whatever it's takes to save Colette.", he shouted as he KO'd the shorter guard by striking him in the stomach with the butt of his sword.

The taller man shouted, "We need help at the main gate immediately! We are under atta..." He too was struck down before finish speaking, but the damage was already done. The doors opened and twenty men poured in the main yard.

"Who do you think you are trying to take on the Royal Guards?", one of them asked as they surrounded the teen.

The brown haired youth knew he couldn't win against all these people at once, but he wasn't about to just give up on Colette's life either, "I'm the guy that's going to save Colette's life."

The armed soldiers were angered by the rude little punks remarks and closed in on him when one of them behind Lloyd was kicked forward. The others turned to see who had cowardly attacked one of their own and found a redhead carrying a single sword, "You said your going to save Colette's life?"

Cautiously the teen responded, "Well...Yeah."

The new guy started laughing and said, "How do you intend to help her? By getting yourself thrown in prison and/or killed?"

"_Who does this guy think he is making fun of me?"_, the swordsman thought as he turned his body around to the intruder. "I just needed to talk to a researcher and then I was out of here.", he snapped at the redhead.

The other swordsman moved towards the teen and motioned for the guards to lower their weapons, "Well it's lucky for you that I came here today." The taller teen watched as Lloyd was confused and then informed, "I'm here today with Colette to do the very same thing...And I brought her friends along."

With those words Lloyd felt his blood freeze and it became difficult to breathe. Sure enough catching up to the redhead were his two traveling companions, the fallen Chosen, and a pink haired girl.

Raine and Genis froze when they entered the yard and found their 'dead' friend standing with weapons drawn. Both half-elves stared at the young swordsman for what seemed like an eternity when in reality it was only about five minutes.

When one of them finally managed to speak it was the healer, "Oh my God! Ll...Lloyd...is...is that you?"

The young man looked her in the eyes and then at his best friend. Genis' eyes seemed to be begging him to say that it was real. "Yeah Professor. It's me...and...and I'm ok."

The scholar moved past the guards to a few feet from the teen and lifted her hand towards his face. Before she could touch him she pulled her hand back feeling as though if she were to touch him the boy would vanish and she would wake up to find out that it was just a dream. She attempted to muster up her courage and place her hand on her student several times before she gave up trying to do so.

Lloyd had picked up on the sadness his friends held for 'his death'. _"Poor Raine and Genis. I never took the time to think how devastated they would be if I were to die."_ He made up his mind that he would never allow his friends to suffer because of him again and when Raine lowered her hand from his face the last time the swordsman grabbed her wrist. He then pulled her hand to him and set it on his face, "Raine...I'm alive. Please stop beating yourself up over my mistake."

The half-elf broke down in tears on her pupil's shoulder. _"Oh thank Martel your still alive. I thought for sure we'd lost you. But how did you survive? ...And why do your shoulders seem bigger?"_, she thought as she was held by her student.

The redhead decided it was time he introduce himself, "Nice to meet you Lloyd. I'm Tethe'alla's chosen, Zelos." The Chosen extended his hand and Lloyd freed one of his two visible hands to shake Zelos'.

By now Lloyd was getting worried at the lack of reaction Genis was having to his appearance. "Um...Genis are you alright?", he asked as Raine recomposed herself.

Raine walked back over to her little brother and waved her hand in front of his face getting no response. She then tried shaking him and called his name several times before he reacted.

Lloyd had moved closer to his best friend before his sister got his attention and was caught off guard when Genis finally moved again. The short half-elf shot forward towards Lloyd and his fist connected with the older boy's face.

"Genis! What was that for?", the teen grumbled as he nursed his sore cheek and wounded pride. _"That actually hurt. Looks like he's getting stronger after all."_

The younger boy didn't respond at first in favor of glaring and growling at his best friend. "How dare you do that to us?", he barked.

"Do what?", Lloyd asked.

"How dare you go off an die on us? ...And in front of my sister **like that!**", he said as tears began forming in his eyes. "Why did you have to leave us like that Lloyd?"

The swordsman knew the attack was out of concern rather than hate, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you guys like this. I can't promise that something like that won't happen again, but I will try my hardest to prevent it." He then walked over to Colette and saw those dreadful wings sticking out of her back.

Zelos walked over to the summon spirit and said, "Don't worry Bud. We're here to help her. She'll be as good as new in no time."

Lloyd didn't seem to be as optimistic as Zelos, but he made sure that it didn't show. "Well? Shall we?", he asked before walking through the guards to the main entrance.

Zelos dismissed the guards and the rest of the party followed Lloyd into the building where they would hopefully find some way to help the fallen Chosen.

* * *

With the Renegades Yuan and his men were closing in on Sybak when something on the sensors caught his attention. "What have we here?", he asked himself as they passed over the site indicated. The blue haired half-elf smiled wickedly at what he saw, "A perfect place to setup an ambush..."

"Lord Yuan?", one the Renegades asked. The soldier looked on as his leader gave instructions for Botta to proceed on ahead while he and a few subordinates arranged a little 'Welcoming Party'.

"As you wish Lord Yuan.", Botta confirmed before he ordered his men to pick up the pace.

Yuan watched as his followers left for Sybak and thought to himself, _"Soon I'll have Origin on my side and those little brats will no longer be an obstacle. Today is turning out to be a very...generous day indeed."_


	8. The Race Begins

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia or any of it characters. I'd also like to send a thank you out to AlbelsPosse for the encouraging review. That review gave me areason to continue this fic

**Path of Ascension**

**Chapter 8**

Once inside of the Imperial Research Academy Zelos lead the way to the front desk. Wait there was a young researcher with her noses stuck in a book about the ancient Kharlan War. Using his lack of finesse the red haired swordsman walked over to the young woman and said, "Hi there gorgeous. I believe that such a voluptuous lady such as yourself were waiting for me."

The researcher looked up from her book and glared at the redhead, "Yes, Chosen One I've been expecting you." She came out from behind the desk and stopped at Zelos, "By the way...that line didn't get you anywhere last week and it's not going to get you to first base with me this week or...any other for that matter. I prefer the high IQ type, not the shameless flirts."

Raine, Genis, and Lloyd all had a hard time not laughing at the horrified expression on the face of Tethe'alla's chosen. _"I don't think I've seen anything that funny in the last four thousand years."_, the Summon Spirit reborn thought to himself. He took Colete's soulless shell by her hand and lead her body in pursuit of the researcher.

Zelos followed muttering, "How can my masculine charisma have failed me? What did I do wrong? How could any woman resist this sexy Chosen of Mana?"

Genis rolled his eyes and followed Lloyd while Raine smacked Zelos in the back of the head. "If you're done with your pity part, then perhaps we can get around to helping Colette.", she said just daring him to utter one more complaint.

The redheaded swordsman just nodded before he and Raine rushed to catch up to the others. They found Lloyd and the others waiting for them outside of a research lab in the basement. The Researcher said, "This is as far as I go. More qualified personnel are waiting for you inside. They've been briefed on Colete's condition and are eager to assist in anyway that they can." She started to leave, but when she passed by Lloyd she said, "Don't let him flirt with the lady inside. She happy...married...and has a gun."

_"Yep. This guy's a dead man."_, Lloyd thought before opening the door. He lead the way into the room and met two people that looked like elves, but he could sense that they were half-elf.

The lady he'd been warned about walked over to them and greeted them, "Hell, nice to meet you people from Sylvarant. I am Kate and this is my husband O'Brian. We received the report of Colette's symptoms just a few hours ago and dug up our research data regarding the Chosen's Cruxis Crystal."

Zelos walked into the room and said, "Well now. So my crystal was useful. When Colette returns to normal. I'll need to make sure she thanks me generously." He ran a hand through his thick red hair while fantasizing about the blonde Chosen causing him to miss the pissed off expression on the incomplete Summon Spirit's face.

_"If he keeps thinking like that...accidents shall seriously cripple his ability to reproduce."_, Lloyd thought before masking his feelings. Choosing to turn his attention back to the Kate rather than risk blowing his secret he listened intently.

Kate activated a holographic globe with the needed data on it. Genis and Raine were the only ones other than the researchers that had any clue as to what half of it meant. "Cruxis Crystals are thought to be evolved form of Exspheres. Both Exspheres and Cruxis Crystals are lifeless beings.", she began acquiring a rapid response from the Professor.

"What did you just say?", asked Rain trying to hide her shock and curiosity.

Lloyd knew what it meant, but chose to continue playing the idiot. "Life...less? What? That makes no sense to me."

O'Brian came to his wife's assistance, "Lifeless beings. How should I put it?" He thought of the simplest explanation that he could and went with it, "Basically, exspheres are alive, thought not in the same way we are."

Kate smiled and said, "Yes. Both of these crystal are like parasites fusing with other life forms."

The younger swordsman shuddered and muttered, "Parasites...ugh...That's not a pleasant thought."

O'Brian nodded hearing the brunette and continued, "When this happens, the mana within the body loses balance and goes out of control without a Key Crest. This causes them to transform into to big, green, mindless monsters."

Both Lloyd and Genis looked down ashamed of what had happened back home. _"That's what happened to Marble. We caused her to go through all of that."_, they both thought making them both feel like crap.

Raine was discussing the more detailed aspects of the fusion with the parasites and Colette's condition when something occurred to Genis. "Sis, wouldn't giving Colette a Key Crest return her to normal?"

Kate's eyes widened and she smiled hugging the smaller half-elf, "Why yes it should. With the Key Crest in place Colette should be able to move about freely in control." She began to rub Genis' face and said, "You don't know how hard it is to find someone who could figure out something so simple around here. I'm glad that there are still a few brilliant minds out there in our youth today."

Lloyd glared at the woman knowing that she was talking about him which caused Raine to laugh. "There, there Lloyd. The truth hurts, but at least she's not deceiving you, right." The Professor saw her student very reluctantly nod his head before muttering a few nasty remarks that Raine didn't quite catch.

After pulling Raine away from the Academy labs they made their way back out to the main yard. "Now where are we going to get a Key Crest?", he asked his party.

Genis looked at him and said, "Can't you just make one."

"No. I could carve the spell in the ore, but I don't possess the knowledge on how to process the ore. Without the processed ore there is nothing that I can do.", he said. _"I refuse to accept defeat. I will find a way to bring her back."_, he thought while the others discussed different places to look for a Key Crest.

Unfortunately the Professor spotted a junk collector's stand nearby filled with trinkets and some relics.

Zelos noticed Raine's departure and motioned for the others to follow. When he caught up to her and found what had her attention he said, "What's this place? All that I see here is junk."

The Professor spun around and quickly kicked Zelos hard right in the stomach. "This is marvelous, not junk. This is ancient magitechnology carbon! Don't judge anything by it's appearance. Such things could be filled with historical value."

The two childhood friends from Iselia knew that Raine had gone off into her own little world and that they would have to wait until she came down on her own. Lloyd glanced over the items on the stand out of curiosity to see if he recognized any of it since, technically he was alive back then. A shiny object near the junk collector stood out causing the swordsman to shout, "There! It's a Key Crest!"

The greedy collector moved over to the young man seeing a potential sale and acted uninterested, "What? You want this piece of junk?" When the brunette nodded and asked 'how much' the collector responded, "Hmm, let me see. I'd say 10,000 Gald should be about right."

The angry Summon Spirit grabbed the man by the scruff of his collar and said, "That's taking advantage of people in need...Why you slimly little..." He felt his power beginning to rise to the surface, so he released the man before he accidentally hurt or worse, killed the man.

The junk collector smirked and said, "This is a business, after all. What did you really expect?"

Zelos had watched the spectacle up until now, but this guy's attitude was really ticking him off. He walked over smiling and said, "Why don't you call the one responsible for this bazaar right now. I'll make sure he can't do business here ever again."

"And just who the hell are you?", the man asked not intimidated by the demand that the redhead had made.

Flashing a smug smile Zelos answered, "I'm the great Zelos, the Chosen."

The junk collector lost all color in his face and his eyes widened to the point that Genis and Lloyd were taking bets as to whether or not they would pop out of their sockets. The filthy businessman immediately started sucking up, "Please, take this junk...un, I mean, I humbly offer this up to you. Please forgive me!"

Zelos patted the groveling man on the head as one would a dog and said, "Good boy. I like your attitude, I'm sure that I'll remember you." This caused the man to laugh nervously not sure whether or not that was a good thing.

After depositing the Key Crest into Lloyd's hands Zelos walked back over to Colette. He heard Lloyd say, "This won't work as it is. I need the tools to properly repair this Key Crest to a usable state." The redhead replied, "Well, let's just go use the Academy's equipment. They'd never deny me a request."

The incomplete Summon Spirit nodded and said, "You maybe a conceited, egotistical jerk...but you do come in handy."

"Same to you kid, same to you.", Zelos shot back.

* * *

Kratos was now just about three hours away from and he still couldn't figure out how Origin had escaped his seal. _"I suppose being thousands of years older than myself might have something to do with it.", he thought to himself bitterly._ He knew that he had to gain Origin's help in order to put his own plans into motion, but the question was 'would Origin help him after being locked away for so long?' 

Glancing back over his shoulder he saw Pronyma following him trying to hide herself in the clouds. _"Meddlesome pest. You're so lucky that I can't kill you without reprisals from Yggdrasil."_, he thought while imagining thousands of different ways that he wanted to use to kill the snotty woman. "Anna was always a hundred times the woman you claim to be.", he said picking some speed.

"Oh no you don't Kratos. You're not going to lose me that easily.", said Pronyma to herself knowing that she had been spotted. _"Lord Yggdrasil will be most displeased with my failure to remain hidden."_

Before he could go much further Renegades on Rheairds came out of nowhere and started shooting a both the Seraphim and Yggdrasil's aide. "You shall go no further.", stated one pulling out a rocket launcher.

Kratos could tell that inside was a weighted net designed specifically to bring down an angel. "I don't have time for this...JUDGEMENT!", he shouted shooting down several Rheairds at once clearing himself a path, but leaving Pronyma to the mercy of the rest. He flew faster seeing the twenty rheairds joined by thirty more that surrounded the woman he despised. _"Finally she makes herself useful. Now on to Syback and hopefully I'll catch Origin before he departs from the city."

* * *

_

In the distance Yuan watched his followers swarm Pronyma, but he was greatly angered that Kratos had slipped through his fingers. "Units five through twelve break off and engage the retreating angel. Don't let him reach Sybak.", he said over the radio.

Using his modified Rheaird he sped towards Sybak refusing to accept second place in this particular race. _"If I can just get to Origin first, then I can break Mithos' grip on both worlds and end this madness once and for all."_, he thought.

The blue haired half-elf and his men surrounded Kratos and began attacking him. "YUAN! What the...I should've known. How else could the Renegades know so much about Cruxis and the Summon Spirits."

"But of course Kratos. Like you I desire Origin's power, but in my case it's to stop Mithos as Martel would've wanted. You and I both know that she would be weeping uncontrollably if she ever found out what the three of us have become and the things that we have done.", growled Yuan before he pulled a gun on Kratos.

Before the gun could be fired the Seraphim grabbed his old friend's hand and tossed him off of the Rheaird. He looked at the Renegades and said, "You'd best catch him before he hits the ground or else it's all over for your group." To his immense satisfaction most of them broke off to save their leader and the few remaining half-elves he made quick work of.

Below Yuan had summoned his wings and glared at the Renegades when most of them appeared near him completely amazed at what they were seeing. "What were you people thinking disobeying my orders?", he barked at them.

"But sir, we thought that you were going to die. We didn't know about...", one of guys said trailing off while pointing at the wings coming out of Yuan's back.

_"Kratos you bastard. That was a dirty move even for you."_, he thought before turning back to his followers, "Go after Kratos now. I received word that Origin's signal was found in close proximity to Sylvarant's Chosen...that gives me an idea. Get to Origin before that Seraphim does or else we have no future."

The Renegades hightailed it after the escaping angel while Yuan worked out the specifics of his backup plan.

* * *

Back in Sybak Lloyd had finished and attached the Key Crest to Colette, but her condition didn't change. Raine suggested that they return to Sylvarant to ask Dirk what was wrong. "Sorry guys, but I can't allow you to return to the declining world. Orders are orders.", said Zelos truly sorry that he couldn't help them here. 

"Come on man. This is for Colette and you can come with us oh Compassionate Chosen One.", said Lloyd really hating having to ask like this. The only reason he swallowed his pride was because as he had said 'this is for Colette'.

The red haired swordsman thought about it for a second and after listening to more pleading agreed, but that's when things got ugly. Several of the Papal Knights came out of nowhere and surrounded the group. "What is the meaning of this?", demanded Zelos.

One of the Knights glared at the chosen and said, "Chosen. We heard what you said just now. We hereby declare you and your companions to be traitors attempting to destroy Tethe'alla."

The Chosen snorted muttering, "Well that was perfect timing, Mr. Papal Knight." He didn't believe that it was coincidence that the Knights had heard what was said and he was right.

The same Knight said, "By the Pope's orders. We were to watch you on suspicion that you were plotting against the throne."

Zelos scoffed placing his hand on his sword and replied, "…Heh. Now that's amusing. So I'm the one who's plotting against the throne?"

They were restrained and while Zelos explained what was the testing was about the Knights began poking them with a strange device that Lloyd had seen before. _"This isn't good. If they get to Raine and Genis then..."_, he thought knowing what would happen to his half-elf friends. Lloyd wasn't at all concerned with himself since the machine couldn't register a Summon Spirit, so the human body would be the only thing that the device could recognize. He tried to use his power discreetly to corrupt the hardware, but found it difficult to focus at present because of his power's lack of use in the last few thousand years..

Unfortunately it was already too late as one of the Knights had come up behind Genis and stuck the little half-elf in the arm. Looking at the results the man said, "…S…sir! We found a match! These two are half-elves."

Lloyd didn't even try to act surprised by this news which both half-elves immediately noticed, but didn't said nothing. Zelos on the other hand was in complete shock and said something along the lines of, "I don't know what it's like in your world, but over here, half-elves are at the bottom of the caste system." This earned the redhead a whack in the back of the head using more strength than a human should be able to. Thankfully the Chosen and the Knights didn't notice this.

Lloyd and Zelos were forced downstairs into the labs with Kate and O'Brian, whom they learned were also half-elves, while Raine and Genis are taken elsewhere. _"Great, just great."_, the Summon Spirit thought.


	9. Discovered

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia or any of it characters.

**Path of Ascension**

**Chapter 9**

Lloyd watched as one of the Papal Knight re-entered the room where he, the pink haired girl, and Zelos had been thrown with the Researchers from before. He knew that they were both half-elves and now so did Zelos. _"He probably thinks that all half-elves are beneath him. How little humanity has changed over the last four thousand years."_, he thought sadly.

Listening in the Knights' conversation he heard the smaller Knight say, "There's been a change in plans. Since those two half-elves can use magic we must keep them under heavy guard..."

The bulkier Knight replied, "But we don't have any spare forces. What do you intend to do about that?"

Lloyd knew that Zelos couldn't hear the conversation between the Knights, but he was willing to bet that the two Researchers could. _"I love having enhanced hearing. It beats dull human senses easily."_, he thought to himself turning his attention back to the Papal Knights.

"We'll return to the bridge and call for reinforcements. As for the Chosen and the brat in red...Just keep them both locked down here in the basement.", said the lead Knight.

Being referred to a 'the brat in red' struck a nerve with Lloyd and he crushed a slab of rock with his bare hand. He saw the two Knights turn a suspicious look towards him and he said, "What? That stone's just really brittle. You don't think that I could break really strong stone like that, do you?"

Watching the boy for a few more minutes the Knights went back to their discussion. Kate walked up to the Knights and asked, "What's going? Why are these three down here?"

Both Knights glared at the half-elf and one said, "Don't speak to us, half-elf. Be quiet and continue with your work." After that the lead Knight left and another replaced him leaving just two to watch over the prisoners, but both seemed more interested in talking about a recent battle in the Colosseum.

Kate brushed the human off while Zelos seemed to think nothing of it. The Summon Spirit knew that Zelos was raised that way, but it still caused his blood to boil just seeing such a heartless display from a race he once believed in so strongly. _"How the mighty have fallen."_, he thought while he heard Kate address both swordsmen, "You two are now criminals? If you were fortunate enough to be born human, then you shouldn't have thrown it away like this. Many half-elves would trade anything for your old status."

The brunette swordsman replied, "We really didn't do anything. And besides...I would rather be a half-elf like you than a soulless bastard like them." He knew that he was pushing both Knights since they could hear him, so he just continued, "I wasn't raised to discriminate against any race. I was taught better than that and I'm proud of it."

Kate smiled and thought to herself, _"Maybe there's hope for Tethe'alla yet."_

Zelos interrupted saying, "Not entirely true...about our actions I mean. We did try to go back to Sylvarant after all."

The Summon Spirit glared at Zelos causing the taller teen to squirm beneath his piercing stare. It's one of the few things that Origin was able to do while he was bound inside of Kratos, learn to make effective faces. Kate and O'Brian smirked knowing what the red clothed swordsman was doing.

When Kate moved to get Lloyd to stop torturing Zelos she saw the pink haired girl and walked towards her. "Presea? You're Presea! Why are you here!"

Lloyd had never thought to ask for the girl's name and felt embarrassed because of his rude behavior. He turned back to Kate and asked, "Do you know Presea or something?" He knew that she must be familiar with the girl, but didn't know anything more than that. Kate started to grasp for words which surprised Lloyd.

Having even less tact than Lloyd Zelos said, "A half-elf in the Imperial Research Academy is acquainted with a human child? Now there's something that you don't see everyday. It's very strange."

Lloyd smacked him in the back of the head again and demanded, "Why's that?" This guy's superiority complex was really starting to rub the Summon Spirit the wrong way and as history has shown that is never a good thing. When Efreet was angry he nearly destroyed the area now known as the Triet Desert. _"Yeah, he's the reason why it's a desert. And I ended getting the blame for it. (Imitating Maxwell) You're the King of the Summon Spirits and it's your responsibility to keep a tight leash on those that serve under you."_ He was so sick of Maxwell always talking down to him and lecturing him. Not wanting to risk his powers going haywire on him he turned his attention back to Zelos who was waving a hand in front of Lloyd's face. "Huh? Oh, sorry. You were saying?"

The red haired swordsman growled at the younger teen's short attention span. "Well now that you're listening again...half-elves are treated like garbage in this world. These guys are never allowed to leave their labs...ever. Never mind that, what I want to know is how a half-elf knows Presea?"

Both men turned to Kate who answered, "...She's my team's research sample. You see we've been doing research in order to make Cruxis Crystals inside the human body. Theoretically they are no different than Exspheres. The need to be allowed to slowly feed on..."

Lloyd cut her off before Kate could go on. "Wh...what! That's the same way the Desians make Exspheres!", he felt his temper rising and could hear the seething hatred he now had for this woman in his voice, "How can you treat people like that?"

Kate got angry that a human would speak to her like that after everything that she's been through because of them. "...I could ask you the exact same question. How can humans treat us half-elves as they do?"

Narrowing his eyes the incomplete Summon Spirit growled slowly, "I treat them the same as everyone else. To me their is no difference between the lives of humans, elves, and half-elves. So don't get all high and mighty on me you hateful bitch."

A new voice cut in just as the two remaining to Knights dropped to the floor. "He isn't from Tethe'alla. He's a strange one who was raised in Sylvarant with half-elves and a dwarf. So you see he really has never had any exposure to that kind of prejudices." Near Lloyd Corrine appeared along with Sheena in a puff of smoke. "Did ya miss me?", she asked playfully until she noticed Zelos. "..."

"Sheena is something wrong? You look like you're about to wipe out an entire army by yourself.", said Lloyd before he followed her gaze to the Chosen of Tethe'alla. _"Oh shit! Sheena please don't kill him just yet. I need his help unfortunately."_, he thought seeing the ninja all but foaming at the mouth. He decided that it was best to divert her attention elsewhere before there was bloodshed, "How did you know what happened? Where are Genis and Raine?"

Snapping out of her trance she looked at Lloyd and felt something familiar about him. Her eyes widened as she realized the reason why he suddenly felt so familiar to her.

Knowing that she'd stumbled across his secret the Summon Spirit spoke to Sheena telepathically, _"Sheena please settle down and I'll explain. As I'm sure you can tell I'm a Summon Spirit, but you can't tell anyone. Too many people will die if you do."_

_"What? How are talking to me like this? How can I hear your voice?"_, replied the Ninja confused with the Summon Spirit's power.

_"It's telepathy."_, Lloyd answered shortly. He stared at her with those big brown eyes knowing that it would soften her just a little.

_"Oh, ok. And don't worry I'll keep your secret, but I have two questions for you."_, said Sheena as she watched Lloyd. Seconds later when he nodded said asked her questions. _"First question...does Raine and Genis know the truth about you? And the second is, which Summon Spirit are you?"_

_"No Raine and Genis don't know. It's hard to explain, but I just recently found out myself...well I remembered who I am. As for which Summon Spirit I am...I can't tell you that. I'm afraid that the answer to that question would freak you out way too much."_, he said patting her on the shoulder. "Where did these clowns take my two half-elven friends?"

"Oh right, they are being taken to Meltokio. If we are going to go after them, then we should get going now.", said the ninja recovering from her shock. Just a short time ago this strange huma...Summon Spirit appeared to be a normal human with a strange upbringing, but now she knows that he's actually an extremely power Spirit if the telepathy is any indication.

Kate still didn't believe what was going on and demanded, "Are you planning on running away?"

Sheena slapped her and barked, "No, we're not. We are going to save his friends. Are you going to try to stop us?" She had a card drawn, but kept it concealed until the half-elf gave the wrong answer.

Lloyd had had enough of that woman, "Our friends Sheena, our friends. And we don't have time for this." He turned to Kate and said in a deadly tone, "If you're going to get in our way, then we'll just have to beat you quickly. I won't fail any of my friends again. So what's it gonna be?"

Zelos butted in saying, "Yes Miss Half-elf, what will it be? Here's one of the few humans in this world trying to save his half-elf best friend and his sister."

O'Brian moved next to his wife and said, "We know that Raine and Genis are half-elves and both seem to trust this boy completely. We also know that they were arrested and will be put to death if we stop them."

Knowing the truth in her husband's words the half-elf turned back to Lloyd and said, "Fine. I'll let you go as long as you promise that once you've saved your friends, you will come back here. If Raine and Genis vouch for you willingly...I'll release Presea from her experiment."

Lloyd nodded and said, "You've got a deal. Lets go Zelos, Sheena."

Kate and O'Brian lead them to a secret tunnel that lead outside of the institute and watched as the teens left. "I'm sorry O'Brian for the way that I acted. It's just so hard to trust humans after..."

He walked up to her and pulled her body into his. "It's ok. I understand all too well. You did need that slap however, then again I've needed one myself every so often. People like those youngsters change the world and give us all hope for a brighter future."

* * *

On the way out of the city they grabbed Colette's soulless body and made a break for the exit. Outside of the city Lloyd and Sheena were running side by side with Zelos, Colette, and Presea trailing behind them. "Man! I still can't believe that you slapped her like that. Way to go Sheena."

The ninja blushed and muttered, "It was nothing. She didn't have a right to say those things to you." She noticed the look her was giving her and she knew that he'd seen her blushing. _"No, no. Bad Sheena. He likes Colette, not you...but maybe there's hope."_

As they ran towards the bridge where the two half-elves would be shortly if not already an explosion rocked the ground throwing them backwards. Sheena looked up to see a man with blue hair staring down at them. _"He's got wings...he's an angel or maybe a devil in disguise."_, thought the ninja.

"I've come for Origin.", said Yuan as he hovered over the group. He knew Origin was somewhere below him, but he couldn't sense where exactly. "Ah, so you're still alive Lloyd. Unfortunately for you I have no further use for you.", said the angel as he raised his hand charging up a bolt of mana.

"NOT SO FAST YUAN!", came a new voice to the battleground. Coming up behind the blue haired angel was someone that Lloyd really didn't want to see again...alive at least.

"Well Kratos it's so good to see you again, but you'll have to excuse me. I have a Summon Spirit to collect.", said Yuan brushing off the other angel. He released the bolt knowing that his old friend would do anything to protect Lloyd now that he was back.

It would've worked if Kratos had seen Lloyd, but the teen was still trying to get back up from the tangled lump he and Sheena were currently in. He would've been up faster except the position they were in offered him 'new views' of Sheena. Let it be said that even if he was a Summon Spirit he was still in the body of a teenager and had the hormones to prove it.

"What are you doing?', asked Kratos after the second explosion hide the people below from view. The angel saw Yuan's surprised face and didn't know what kind of game he was playing at until he saw the dust clear. In front of him was the one person other than his wife that Kratos thought that he'd never see again. "Lloyd?", he whispered so low that neither Yuan nor Lloyd heard it, but Sheena was able to read his lips and knew what he'd said.

Yuan figured out that Kratos must not have seen the brunette earlier, but now that the former human knew Lloyd was ok Yuan had the advantage. "Here's my proposal for you...Leave Origin to me and I'll let the boy live. Try to stop me from forming a pact with Origin and I'll kill Lloyd."

Sheena knew that the Summon Spirit they were talking about was actually Lloyd, but when the pieces of the puzzle came together...to say that she was surprised was a severe understatement. _"YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT THIS IDIOT IS ORIGIN? THE KING OF THE SUMMON SPIRITS?"_, she thought to herself trying to find another possibility. _"Maybe he just knows where Origin is or something? He can't be Origin, right?"_

_"Sorry to break it to you, but they are right. I am Origin...but I'm not complete. I'll explain after we've saved Raine and Genis...not to mention ourselves."_, called Lloyd telepathically. He breathed a sigh of relief when Sheena nodded, but he couldn't help feeling insulted that she thought of him as an idiot. Was it really that hard to believe that he's Origin?

In the air Kratos sensed for Origin, but could only tell that he was below them. The mercenary knew that Yuan wouldn't hesitate to kill Lloyd if he stepped in to claim Origin first. _"I can't lose you again Lloyd. I'm sorry Anna...but I don't know what to do."_ He was stuck between choosing to save Lloyd's life or the world and it was a decision that was impossible for him to make. _"Anna please help me."_, he thought begging for divine intervention so that he could 'have his cake and eat it too.'

Yuan laughed seeing Kratos so completely helpless and afraid. _"I never thought that I'd see fear on his face again after all these centuries. Go on Kratos...choose to save your own blood. It's the only choice for you to make if you want to keep your sanity."_


	10. Struggle for Origin

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia or any of it characters.

**Path of Ascension**

**Chapter 10**

In Welgaia Yggdrasill's most trusted servant Pronyma entered the blonde angel's throne room. "Lord Yggdrasill I have news. It seems that Kratos has caught up to Origin's signal.", said the leader of the Desian Grand Cardinals.

Yggdrasill looked up at her and smiled. "Excellent. It seems that Kratos mayhave been honest with me about not knowing of Origin's escape. I've gotta hand it to Origin, he can be a clever Summon Spirit and very tricky to deal with." He stood up and walked to his servant and asked, "Is there anything else that you have to report?"

Pronyma grinned at her master and nodded. "It would appear that the traitor isn't Kratos, but rather someone else close to you from your old days. Someone that you never would've suspected is trying to take Origin's power and the Eternal Sword away from you."

Cruxis' leader was surrounded by random bolts of electricity alerting all those nearby that he was now very pissed off. He'd suspected for sometime that there might be other traitors hiding within Cruxis and the Desians, especially with how effectively the Renegades were interfering with his plans to revive Martel. _"So 'you' have turned against me and Martel. I thought that you loved her...I deal with 'you' personally soon enough. First I need to know just how far the damage stems and then I'll take care of that troublemaker."_, the angel thought to himself before giving Pronyma her orders. "Keep an eye on him, but be discreet about it. If he suspects that I've got my eyes on him he'll go into hiding and continue to fight me from there. I want to deal with those Renegades all at once."

"Yes my Lord.", said Pronyma as she left to carryout her orders. In truth she never really liked anyone other than Yggdrasill, so finding such dirt on Yggdrasill's old friends only served her goals of getting closer to the head of Cruxis. The half-elf knew that her master was concealing his true appearance and she knew what it actually looked like. Soon she would be in a position to become an angel herself and she'd have 'her love' too.

* * *

Outside of Sybak Yuan and Kratos hovered in the sky while Lloyd and his crew stood below watching the standoff. Neither one seemed to be backing down to the other, but all present knew that in just a few seconds the fighting would begin. 

From his position in the sky Kratos could see the Lloyd's group through the peripheral vision and the brunette obviously wasn't happy with the angel's reappearance after his betrayal in the Tower of Salvation. Kratos couldn't blame him for holding resentment against him, but the man was determined that if they would survive this fight and maybe, just maybe he'd get a chance to make amends. _"I'm through do Cruxis dirty work and you Yggdrasill, are on your own."_, he privately vowed.

Yuan watched his old friend closely for any signs of an attack. He was no fool and knew that Kratos would fight in order to protect Lloyd. _"Heh...that boy would be surprised if he knew why Kratos wishes to protect him."_, he thought as he tried to sense out Origin's exact location. It dawned on him why he couldn't sense where Origin was currently and it infuriated the blue haired angel. _"That Summon Spirit has a setup a dispersal field to hide his location. That's a tricky move since the spirit would have to maintain a physical presence in order to do that. Origin has to be disguised using one of those bodies down there or he's possessed one of them. Now which one would it be?"_

Little did either angel know, but Lloyd was passively reading both of their minds. While only doing so passively he could only see exactly what they were thinking about at the time, but that was ok since they couldn't tell that he was reading them. _"Yeah, right Yuan. Like I don't already know about Kratos' motivations, but I don't trust him anymoreand will never do so again."_, the red clad swordsman thought.

Finally the stalemate came to an end with Yuan striking first releasing a bolt of mana not towards Kratos, but directly at Lloyd. "Lloyd Move!", the mercenary shouted diving towards the young swordsman.

Yuan took the opportunity to get up behind Kratos and bash him in the back of his head. The blow disoriented Kratos enough that he couldn't pull up before crashing into the ground. Lloyd and Sheena were safe because both had jumped out of the way just narrowly avoiding being blasted by Yuan. "Now that he's out of the way...Where is Origin? Or rather which one of you is Origin?", demanded Yuan smiling at Lloyd's group.

"Lloyd...we make abreak for it on three.", whispered Sheena holding two foreign objects in her hand.

Lloyd acknowledged her telepathically and informed Zelos. "Stay close. She's got a plan.", he said. Something inside of the Summon Spirit caused him to look over at Kratos who'd knocked himself out when he plowed into the ground and the swordsman felt a tinge of sadness in his heart. _"I can't believe that I still care, even a little bit for him. All that time I spent with him in the past before I got my memory back left a bond, one that I'm not sure that I can overcome."_

"HIYAH!", shouted the Ninja as she threw the two spheres towards the blue haired angel. He smiled and made to dodge them, but before he could they exploded covering the area in a thick patch of smoke that rapidly expanded. Sheena laughed to herself hearing Yuan cursing them while shooting blindly into the smoke. _"Yeah stupid keep doing that. This smoke was made by my people and it only grows thicker and wider the more mana you use in it."_, she thought.

Origin released a burst of concentrated mana to temporarily blind any sensing abilities in the area allowing them to not only escape, but also give them more cover for their escape. _"We make one hell of a team Sheena. You've gotta teach me how to make that stuff."_, said Lloyd telepathically.

_"I agree with you about us being a good team, but I can't teach you to make that smoke. It's an ancient Mizuho secret passed down only to those of my village."_, she answered. The ninja also reasoned that Lloyd would probably lose interest in the unique smoke within minute anyway.

* * *

After twenty minutes of running this strange party made it to the Grand Tethe'alla bridge. Sheena lifted her hand and pointed, "There's Raine and Genis." 

Unfortunately one of the Knights in the rear of the group heard the ninja shout and in turn he shouted, "RAISE THE BRIDGE! NOW!" He smiled as he and his men quickly made it to the other side of the bridge. He looked back expecting the enemies of the 'crown' to be exhausted, but instead he saw them still running towards them. _"Damn those fools. Don't they know when to give up?"_

Sheena, Lloyd and Colette were almost side by side as they reached the moving section of the bridge. Zelos and Presea had fallen behind and were not likely to make it. Taking action Lloyd turned to Colette's soulless shell knowing that all she could do was obey instructions in her present condition. "Colette grab Presea while I grab Zelos and get her over the gap.", he told her. He really hated doing that because he knew that he was taking advantage of her condition and that thought sickened him.

Colette grabbed Presea and used her wings to carry both of them over the gap. The Summon Spirit had grabbed Zelos and dragged him across as the bridge reaches its height. The two swordsmen fell down the ramp and crashed at the bottom with Lloyd's foot being wedge inside of the Chosen of Tethe'alla's mouth.

The red haired swordsman immediately started trying to pull the rank foot out of his mouth. "Oh Martel! Lloyd man wash your feet once in a while. Uh...I'm never gonna get that horrible taste out of my mouth.", said Zelos as he started spitting as much as he could out of his mouth. _"Uh...there isn't mouthwash in either world strong enough to get rid of that stuff."_

The leader of this group of Papal Knights growled and then said, "What are you idiots waiting for! Stop them!" A total of sixteen Knights surrounded the group and prepared to fight. Raine and Genis took advantage of the situation and struck their captors while retrieving their weapons. Quickly the two half-elves moved over to their friends for some form of protection.

Raine spook first, "...I'm...I'm surprised that you came to our rescue. Thank you Lloyd"

The slacker student smiled and replied, "Of course I came to help. You're my friends."

"But we're half-elves. We lied to you about what we are.",Genis objected. The small half-elf was glad that Lloyd had and on some level he knew that swordsman held no such prejudices against any race. Still the fear of rejection made both himself and Raine keep up their front. _"Unfortunately most people out there are not like Lloyd."_, the young half-elf thought sadly.

"So what? You guys were just protecting yourselves the only you knew how...by deception, but that's ok. I understand and I hold nothing against you guys. Regardless of what race you are, you are still my friends and I will protect you.", said Lloyd reminding everyone of just how much of an idealist he is. He really couldn't be mad at them anyways since he was hiding the fact that he is a Summon Spirit and the king of them to boot.

Raine looked proud of her young student, but the smile fade when she saw Zelos. "...And what about the Tethe'alla half of our group? Do you mind if we join up with you again?"

Sheena smiled as she smacked one of the attacking Knights with a card and back flipped to strike another. "You don't have to worry about me. Remember I'm from Mizuho and we're not exactly mainstream either. We're not 'that' different." She struck another Knight while kicking one straight into Zelos.

The Chosen of Tethe'alla caught the Knight with his sword and made quick work of him. "...To tell you the truth, I can't say that I'm really kosher with this.", he said before receiving a glare from Sheena, "Then again, people have always treated me differently, saying that I'm a descendent of angels. So in a way we're a lot alike."

_"Smart choice Zelos."_, thought Lloyd after having seen the glare himself. He quickly dispatched two more Knights and turned to see something the both surprised and scared the hell out of him.

Presea lifted a giant axe that was her size if not bigger and easily took out three Knights in one swing. She looked at Raine and said in her usual monotone voice, "I...just want to go home." One guy tried to sneak up behind her, but before Raine could shout a warning Presea threw the axe onto her shoulder knocking the Knight out easily and probably cracking his skull open too.

Raine smiled and said, "I see...All right, then. Let's finish these puppets off and get out of here." She then cast a spell to increase everyone of her party's attack strength and healed the wounded. For her group it was mostly small scratches and such, so she really didn't have to heal anyone.

"Stalagmite!", shouted Genis unleashing his magics on two unfortunate Knights. He grinned and finally noticed Sheena again, "By the, what are you doing here Sheena?"

The ninja chuckled and roundhoused two of the armored idiots. "I have orders from my chief. I'm supposed to observe your activities and report back with my findings.", she said confidently. She noticed that all of the Knights had been defeated and starting sulking. _"UGH! There are no more? I still the need to vent on something with Zelos around."_, she thought eyeing her world's Chosen.

Zelos didn't notice the look he was getting and said, "That's typical of your people. They're trying to decide if they should side with the King or this group from Sylvarant."

They gathered themselves up and just started walking away from the bridge in order to avoid fighting anymore of the Pope's Knights. Genis muttered, "Great, so now we have two people keeping tabs on us." He looked over at Presea and smiled a little bit forgetting about what he'd just said. _"She's really cute. Not much of a personality though, but that's ok."_

Lloyd butted back in saying, "Yeah, but at least Sheena isn't trying to get in our way or anything."

Raine nodded in agreement. "That's true. We already know that Sheena's an honest person...perhaps to a fault." The professor couldn't help but laugh when she saw Zelos pretending to be emotionally wounded by that comment. _"He'll be hurt physically if he sets Sheena off."_, she thought deepening her smile.

Lloyd decided their next course of action knowing that they had to get back to Sylvarant. "Now we just need Sheena to form a pact with Volt so that we can get those Rheairds working!", he said.

Sheena stopped walking and shouted in surprise, "VOLT!" The ninja felt the old fear of that Summon Spirit swelling up inside of her making her feel like she was going to choke. She started taking deep breathes to try to relax while she listened to the party's reaction.

Presea looked worried as did Lloyd. "Sheena?", asked Presea hoping to find out what was wrong.

The ninja quickly muttered, "..Ah...nothing. I'm fine."

Zelos jumped in front of the group and cheerfully said, "Then shouldn't we go get the Rheairds first? Either way, Volt's temple is on the other side of the Grand Tethe'alla bridge. It'll be faster if we pick up the Rheairds, since the bridge is closed off right now and is not likely to be opened again anytime soon." He felt proud of himself knowing that he had a good point.

An annoyed Summon Spirit asked, "Pick up? How exactly are you planning on moving those things? They weigh a ton."

If anything Zelos' smiled widened and he said, "Just leave that part to me my friendly country bumpkin. I prepared a secret weapon just in case something like this happened."

Lloyd started entertaining ideas of using all four of his arms to beat Zelos senseless while Genis asked, "What secret weapon? The young half-elf didn't have any confidence in Tethe'alla's chosen and simply brushed him off as someone that would hog all of the credit for another person's work.

Zelos leaned down to Genis and smiled again. "It wouldn't be any fun if I spoiled the surprise! Now let's get going! To the Fooji Mountains!", he said striking a pose pointing his index finger towards the mountains.

Sheena snickered and tapped Zelos on the shoulder. Pointing in the opposite direction she said, "The Fooji Mountains are that way." The ninja always lashed out at Zelos, but at times like this it was nice to have a fool in the group. _"He can at least provide some amusement from time to time."_

"Right, I knew that.", the red haired swordsman claimed chuckling nervously. He knew that they knew he was lying and he was glad that they didn't call his lie. While the group changed directions he took the opportunity to give Sheena's body a full look over.

Someone walked up next to him and said, "I wouldn't let her catch you doing that if I were you."

Zelos saw Lloyd right next to him. "Oh, don't worry. She's only left me in the hospital a couple...dozen times. I think that last had to do with me groping her.", he said remembering Sheena beating the crap out of him in front of the castle. _"It was well worth the pain."_, he thought remembering the curves. If the Chosen had looked back at Lloyd he would've seen the brunette giving him a death glare.

* * *

Elsewhere Yuan was still fuming over the losing his shot at forming a pact with Origin. _"Well I still have one trick up my sleeve."_, he thought as he planned his next move. He was determined that Origin would be on his side and he would bring down Yggdrasill's mass conspiracy even if it killed him. A groan nearby attracted his attention. "Well at least I didn't come out of this empty handed. You may still be of use to me yet.", he said looking at the restrained mercenary. 


	11. Fooji Mountains

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia or any of it characters.

**Path of Ascension**

**Reviews:  
Sieg15: **Thanks. I'm also still trying to decide between the pairings. As of now it's open for voting.

**BlueIrish:** Let's just say that Lloyd knew because he was snopping around inside their heads.

**PsychoSpiff:** It's not a Colette/Lloyd pairing yet. As I said above it's open for voting.

**Fehize:** Yeah it would be weird to have four arms after living 17 years with only two. I couldn't handle it that's for sure.

**Windsbane:** Thanks. I was hoping that the fight scenes in the past were detailed enough.

**Lady-Jana-Sparrow:** Don't feel bad. I wouldn't even want to imagine what Lloyd would actually be feeling right now.

**Spiecas:** I actually thought this one up after reading so many Naruto fics where Naruto turned out to be Kyuubi. I started to wonder "what if?" and that lead to this fic.

**too-much-inspiration:** I won't quit if I can help it. I like this fic, but I bounce around so much that I lose interest for a while.

**Chapter 11**

When the party reached the Fooji Mountains Lloyd was already complaining. "I can't believe we're going to have to climb that mountain again..."

Genis and Raine both rolled their eyes having known that this was going to happen. Both half-elves loved Lloyd like a brother, but sometimes they just wanted to kill him and this was certainly one of those times.

Raine moved over next to Sheena and they started talking about the current events in their lives. The half-elf knew that she was unsettled about seeing Volt for some reason and she wanted to take the Shinobi's mind off of the Summon Spirit.

"So monsters really started to appear...But the regeneration ritual wasn't complete, so what's going on?" Sheena, like everyone else, understood very little about what was happening in both worlds right now, but she knew that it was wrong and that was enough for her.

Raine started chewing on her index finger. "...If it's not caused by a decline in mana, then it may be the work of Cruxis."

Lloyd perked up, but decided to keep up his act as a brain dead idiot. He turned to Rained and asked, "To try and hurt Colette?"

"Can they do something like that," asked Genis entering the debate. He hated knowing that half-elves were responsible for so much pain and destruction. To the young half-elf Cruxis was just validating everyone's fear and hatred of their kind.

Raine glared at the remains of one monster and said to Genis, "It's just a conjecture. We can't say for certain." The Professor already knew in her heart that Cruxis had been behind this latest event and most likely it was a ploy to flush the Chosen out into the open or make her turn herself in. _"To think that I share blood with these monsters…"_

With only a few short battles the party made it to the top of the mountain and walked towards the Rheairds. Lloyd tapped Zelos on the shoulder and said, "Hey, Zelos. How are we going to carry these?"

The red head grinned like an idiot and replied too cheerfully, "Oh, I'll show ya. Come over here for a sec."

As instructed the small group, with the exception of Colette, followed Tethe'alla's chosen. Just before reaching the Rheairds an orange barrier quickly encircled them. Lloyd acting on instinct tried to force his way through only to get knocked on his ass. "Ouch that hurt."

A blue haired half-elf walked out from behind some rocks and chuckled. "You've walked right into my trap, fools!"

The entire group turns and looks at Zelos making the Chosen wonder why he suddenly had their attention again.

Lloyd was the first to smirk and said, "He just called you a fool." _"Of course it's the truth, but no point in stating the obvious."_

The pink-haired axe wielder stared with her lifeless eyes and added, "Zelos…is clumsy."

The red head faked sobbed and whined, "Gah…I am so sad now." To complete his little performance he held his hands up to his face and sobbed some more.

Outside of the barrier Yuan rolled his eyes and marched over to the barrier. Casting a glance to one of his Renegades he barked out orders. "You," he said catching the attention of one soldier, "Retrieve the Rheairds."

While his peons were following his orders Yuan moved closer to the Chosen's group. He smiled at Lloyd and then shifted his view to Sheena. "This is turning out to be a very…fruitful day indeed. My traitorous would-be assassin and Origin all wrapped up."

Sheena knew that Yuan was going to torture her before killing her since she'd disobeyed his orders, but then she realized something. Turning her attention back to her former employer she asked, "Wait, what do you mean Origin? As in the King of the Summon Spirits Origin? The creator of the heavens, etc, etc?"

Yuan nodded. "Yes, it seems that the stubborn old spirit is not only here, but actually masquerading around as a human or half-elf. Origin has either possessed one of you or altered his form to appear human, but I know that you are here Origin." Cocking his head to the side he continued, "Don't make this difficult Origin or else I'll be forced to kill everyone here until you show yourself."

Lloyd and Sheena both look behind the Renegade leader catching his attention. The blue haired half-elf turns to see Pronyma teleporting in. "Oh? Lord Yuan. What brings you to this place?" She knows that he's here for Origin, but wouldn't dare risk admitting to it in front of her. Her orders were to play along with Yuan's deception, but under no circumstances was he to get his filthy hands on Origin or Sylvarant's Chosen.

The Renegade leader watched her for a moment before saying, "I should ask you the same, Pronyma! The role of you Desians is to wreak havoc upon the declining world!" Yuan crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at her. "And the last time that I checked this world wasn't declining yet. That idiot Remiel died and let her get away from what I've heard."

It was a commonly known fact that Pronyma hated Remiel with a passion since he'd continued to try to turn her interests away from Yggdrasill to himself. That twisted love triangle is actually what landed him in the position of being the Oracle, the most hated position any angel could receive. She grinned thinking of the mental torture that she'd put Remiel through. "Ah yes, good times. To answer your question I have come here on Lord Yggdrasill's order to retrieve Colette. Please turn her over to me so that I may depart this worthless world."

With his goal so close and the certainty that she didn't know Origin was right here he said, "Fine. But in exchange for handing over the Chosen, I am taking custody of the rest of these idiots. I trust that you have no objections?"

In truth Pronyma didn't know that the Summon Spirit was that since she'd been out of contact with her underlings. "I have received no orders in regards to the rest of them; so, please do as you wish, my lord." In a mock whisper she added, "Try not to get too much blood all over you. Martel will be back soon and you wouldn't want to be a mess when she arrives."

To Lloyd's horror Pronyma turned her undivided attention to a defenseless Colette. The incomplete spirit knew that Colette would only defend herself if the half-elf did something to provoke the angel. All that it really took was no weapons or raised voices to keep the Chosen from attacking in her current state.

When Pronyma approached Colette Lloyd shouted, "Colette! Don't go! Run!"

The half-elf laughed at the boy's useless attempts to save the Chosen. "Hahaha. A futile effort. Yours words cannot reach a Chosen who has lost her soul." Upon inspecting the Chosen for any damage that the Renegades may have inflicted her eyes caught sight of a Key Crest. "What is this? Why is there such a crude Key Crest upon the Cruxis Crystal?"

Lloyd smiled as the Leader of the Desian Grand Cardinals turned around and shot him a glare. He had no doubt that Kratos had told Cruxis about his skill with Dwarven technology. The Summon Spirit smiled even wider when Pronyma growled, "This is your doing isn't it?" The smile faded when hers appeared. "Another pathetic attempt to save her and yet all that I have to do is removed this ugly thing."

"_Oh hell no! Nobody insults my craftsmanship and gets away with it!"_ Lloyd wanted just one opening to beat the woman senseless, but couldn't due to the barrier holding him. If only he had regained more of his power then he could have blown the barrier apart, but that had its risks too since his friends were inside the barrier too. One mistake and they would be scattered all over the landscape.

Before Pronyma could remove the Key Crest Colette grabbed her arm and twisted it. "This is a birthday present that Lloyd gave me!" she shouted before throwing the Desian twenty feet away.

Inside of the energy barrier Genis and the others were dumbstruck that Colette had finally recovered. "Colette…you spoke!"

Said blond turned and smiled, "Yep. Why is everyone inside that thing?"

Yuan was shocked that the poorly constructed Crest had had any affect on the crystal. "Impossible! There's no way that pitiful Key Crest could restrain the Cruxis Crystal!"

Lloyd sent Sheena a quick telepathic message and she repeated it to Yuan. "Weren't you warned before about people making the impossible possible."

Yuan's eyes widened and he knew that Origin had told her that in order to mock him. _"Origin's making fun of me? That's not like him since he usually has less of a sense of humor than I do?"_

The Desian took the opportunity to try to take Colette by surprise and return to Derris Kharlan. "No matter you are still coming with me. Lord Yggdrasill is waiting for you my dear and you shouldn't keep him waiting."

Colette jerked back and landed on top of a weird device place on the ground. She moved away as smoke and sparks came out of the device. "Whoops! I broke something else…again."

They all smiled as the orange barrier dissolved. Lloyd reacted before the rest and went straight after Pronyma. "What was that about my craftsmanship lady? Didn't you say something along the lines of my work being 'an ugly thing'? When was the last time you looked in a mirror?"

"Probably never." said Zelos with a grin. "I mean who would settle for a woman that ugly. Forget the fact that she's a half-elf let's just make it illegal to be that hideous looking."

Sheena shook her head at Wilder's antics. Part of her was pleased given that he'd gotten under the Desian's skin and the other part wanted to smack him. "Eh I'll let it go this time."

Immediately the group came together and went to work fighting off Yggdrasill's henchwoman and in no time she was beat down.

Genis smirked and said, "This is what happens to anyone that messes with our friends and that broken arm is why most people are not stupid enough to insult Lloyd's crafting skills."

"Worthless, traitor…" Pronyma said before teleporting away.

Sheena looked back at Yuan. "Now it's your turn Yuan."

Both assassin and twin bladder charged at Yuan only to have both of their attacks intercepted by Kratos. "Back off Lloyd, Sheena." said the angry Seraphim. "This no longer concerns you."

Yuan knew that if Kratos had escaped then he most likely tipped Mithos off to his plans. "So what now Kratos?"

The angel's glared intensified as if he were trying to kill Yuan with it. "You should know that Mithos has summoned you. Perhaps it would be best if you make it easy on yourself and give up."

The blue haired half-elf knew that by 'give up' Kratos meant 'come along with me so that I can torture you for endangering my son'. "I'll pass on that one, thanks."

Kratos swung his sword only to have it pass through Yuan as he warped away. Sheathing his sword the red haired angel growled and breathed deeply trying not to lose his temper. He then turned around and asked, "Lloyd what are you doing here? Why did you come to Tethe'alla?"

The teen wanted to give the old man the cold shoulder, but his mouth reacted before his brain could stop it. "I heard that there were some attractive ladies here, so Genis and I decided to find ourselves a special someone to have a wild night with."

Most of the group couldn't believe what Lloyd had just said. Zelos on the other hand was applauding Lloyd's response and saying something about 'having a mini-me'.

"_He has to be kidding."_ Kratos privately thought or so he thought. Quickly rebuilding his mask of indifference he asked, "What's the real reason that you are here? Even if you came to save Colette, which you've successfully done, the relation of the two worlds vying for each other's mana will not change. Their positions have merely been reversed by the regeneration ritual."

Sheena as panicked to hear this and asked, "Has Tethe'alla begun to decline?"

The red head shook his head and said, "The Tower of Salvation can still be seen from this world as well. As long as that exists here, it means that this world is still flourishing. Although, in the event that Colette becomes Martel's vessel, Tethe'alla will surely bid farewell to its era of prosperity."

"What can we do to fix it then?" demanded Lloyd feeling his powers starting to strain the limits of his control. One slip up and someone could be seriously hurt. Furthermore he needed to reclaim his power and knowledge that was still sealed inside of Kratos.

Kratos looked down and said, "If you want to do something about it, use your own head. I thought you weren't going to make any more mistakes?"

"Yeah, I'll do it! This stupid system of two worlds stealing mana from each other…I swear that I'll change it!" said Lloyd thrusting his fist in front of himself.

Kratos smiled. "Do your best Lloyd." He started to walk away and then stopped, "Lloyd would you be opposed to my returning to your group?"

Lloyd looked up to see his father's/jailor's back turned to him. The part of him that was Kratos' son wanted so badly to say yes and forgive him everything, but the stronger part wasn't sure that he could trust the Seraphim not to betray them again.

The group stared at Lloyd and could see the internal conflict. Everyone knew that it was Lloyd's decision since Colette would back him on anything that he did and Colette was the reason that they were here in the first place.

After several minutes of silence Lloyd's now blue eyes looked up at Kratos and he asked, "Why should I give you a second chance?"

Kratos answered with one word. "Atonement."


End file.
